Dianoia’s Eatery in Pittsburgh’s Strip District serves up Italian pumpkin dish
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Gnocchi is the treat inside this pumpkin.
DiAnoia’s Eatery in Pittsburgh’s Strip District has brought back its famous Gnocchi Pumpkin Bowl for a third year.
The homemade Italian pasta is usually served in a “hearty” bread bowl, but chef and co-owner Dave Anoia adds what he calls a “festive flair to this Sorrento style dish” by stuffing a hollowed-out pumpkin with his homemade gnocchi and topping it with creamy mozzarella, pecorino Romano, and fresh basil.
The entrée is $32 for dine-in, outdoor eating, takeout and delivery.
It will be available through Oct. 31.
“It’s been popular, and it’s a staple this time of year,” Anoia said. “They go quick.”
The dish was announced on Instagram.
They’ve purchased 360 pumpkins — 6 inches in diameter — and will most likely buy another 180. His wife and restaurant co-owner Aimee DiAndrea came up with the idea after she had risotto served in a hollowed-out pumpkin in North Carolina 15 years ago.
Anoia said the roughly one pound of gnocchi is made of potatoes, flour and cheese.
It’s a family recipe.
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They clean out the pumpkin and add olive oil, salt and pepper, then roast it, cool it and add the gnocchi and sauce of pumpkin puree, cream, nutmeg, cinnamon and basil. It’s topped with mozzarella cheese.
“It’s a definite comfort food,” he said. “And the whole thing is edible, including the skin.”
DiAnoia’s Eatery is also offering “Make Your Own Pumpkin Bowl Kits” for those interested in trying to create the dish at home for $35.
“It has everything you need, and you get to carve the pumpkin yourself,” he said. “That’s the fun part. You can make a jack-o-lantern and cut out the eyes and mouth and have the gnocchi and sauce and cheese ooze out. This can be fun for the whole family.”