Step 1

Preheat the oven to 200c.

Step 2

Wash the potatoes and insert a metal skewer through the centre. Arrange on a baking tray.

Step 3

Halve the butternut squash and remove the seeds then place on the same baking tray as the potatoes. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with the flaky sea salt. Place a clove of garlic in the seed hole of each half. Place the tray in the oven for an hour.

Step 4

While the squash and potatoes bake, prepare the sauce ingredients. Place the cashews in a medium bowl and cover with just-boiled water. Cover with a plate and leave to soak. Place the vegetable stock and the vegan butter in the cup of a high-speed blender and set aside – don’t blend anything just yet.

Step 5

Now prepare the gnocchi ingredients. In a medium bowl, mix together the plain white flour and the fine sea salt. Set aside.

Step 6

Once baked, remove the potatoes and butternut squash from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Slice each potato in half and scoop out the cooked inside and place in a medium bowl. Discard the potato skins and mash the flesh until very smooth. Add the flour and salt mixture to the mashed potato and mix well to form a dough. Knead the dough for a minute. The dough should be smooth and should not be sticky. If the dough is sticky, add an extra tablespoon of flour and knead well.

Step 7

Divide the dough into quarters and roll each quarter into a long thin snake. Slice each snake into small, 1cm nuggets. Once all the dough has been divided into nuggets, start rolling the nuggets down a gnocchi board or the back of a fork, one at a time, to create ridges. Sprinkle the formed vegan gnocchi with a little flour to stop them from sticking together. Set aside.

Step 8

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add a good pinch of salt.

Step 9

Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh from inside the butternut squash and place this into the cup of the high-speed blender which contains the vegetable stock and vegan butter. Add the roasted garlic cloves too. Finally, drain the soaked cashews and add these to the blender cup too. Blend everything together at high speed until completely smooth. Set aside.

Step 10

Boil the gnocchi in two batches. When one batch is done, remove the gnocchi from the water using a slotted spoon or a spider and place the cooked gnocchi into a bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil to stop the gnocchi from sticking together and repeat the process with the second batch. Reserve the gnocchi boiling water.

Step 11

Once the gnocchi is boiled, place a medium frying pan over high heat. Add the gnocchi and fry for around five minutes, stirring often. Your vegan gnocchi is done when it’s lightly browned. Reduce the heat under the frying pan to medium and add some of the blended butternut squash sauce. Stir to cover the gnocchi. Add a ladle of the gnocchi boiling water to thin the sauce out and continue to simmer for a minute until it’s smooth and glossy.

Step 12

Remove from the heat and serve your vegan gnocchi with some chilli flakes and black pepper.