NYC OCTOBER - TUESDAY

Halloween #1. I'm not very fond of Halloween, because I didn't grow up with it and also I'm not very keen on dressing up in costume. So, my contribution to Halloween is a recipe for gnocchi that I had the other evening at my friend and cook book author, Susan Simon's apartment. The delicious meal was cooked by Ron Suhanosky owner of the best Italian restaurant, Sfoglia, on Nantucket, who, with his wife Colleen will be opening another restaurant in NYC on the upper east side. Naturally, pumpkin being one of the "icons" of Halloween, this Gnocchi di Zucca recipe is very appropriate. Here is my vague interpretation: make gnocchi (look up the recipe) use about 1/3 of cooked mashed pumpkin with about 2/3 mashed potatoes - dice a lot of extra pumpkin and saute in a pan with a bit of butter and crushed sage, then add lots of poppy seeds - seperately boil the gnocchi until they float up to the top, mix them in the pan with the sauteed pumpkins, adjust seasoning and serve - delicious!