An Italian dinner. Gnocchi Di Zucca

We had an Italian man come over and cook us dinner last night. I was a little worried when he described it, it sounded like it would be pumpkin balls (like meatballs). I couldn't imagine how pumpkin would be good with butter and cheese. Angelo is from Italy and is a devout Catholic. We met him through another aquaintance. He has been coming to our church and Bible studies on a regular basis for the past year now. He is searching the Scriptures. Baron is going to start a one on one Bible study with him. He has had some problems with renting out his building...the tenants haven't paid etc. So, Baron has helped him out and he wanted to "pay him back" so he came over to fix us dinner. His girlfriend also came, Marcela. She was orphaned at the age of 3 but somehow even though most orphans in her day were in instituations that were terrible, she was in a girls home and well cared for. She works with handicapped children. Anyway, he starts out by boiling the chunks of pumpkin like you do to make mashed potatoes. Then, when they are soft he mixes them with flour so they are puree. In another pan in the oven he has the herb salvia and a whole cup of butter melting in the oven. Then he took the pumpkin and spooned it out into boiling water and when it is done it floats to the top and he takes it and puts it in a bowl of cold water. Then he takes it from the cold water and mixes it in with the melted butter and salvea. Then he puts grated mozarella and cascaval on top and bakes it just until the cheese melts. He said his mom always made this during the holidays. He had not made it in a long time but says it is a traditional northern Italy meal. I was surprised at how tasty it was. It was called Gnocchi Di Zucca (nioke di zuka).



The finished product.





This is Angelo and Marcela.