Preparation / Directions:
Whisk together the pumpkin and the egg whites until blended. Then add flour and stir until the dough is thick enough to be turned out onto a large cutting board or clean table top. Douse with more flour, and work/knead it into the dough. When fully incorporated add more flour and repeat. Keep adding flour and kneading until the dough can hold its own shape. It will still be a little bit sticky.
At this stage, I chilled the dough overnight, but I have no idea if doing so was essential to the success of my gnocchi--I was just starting to feel really guilty about those essays I hadn't yet graded.
When you're ready to eat the gnocchi, get a pot of boiling water going on the stove. Generously flour your board or tabletop and hands. Cut the dough into fourths and roll each fourth into a cylinder, and slice off gnocchi-sized chunks. I have to be vague about measurements because I was having a hard time with my cylinder rolling technique and at one point just hacked the cylinder in two lengthwise to speed things along. I aimed for 1/2-inch chunks, but some were bigger than that. Drop into salted boiling water. As they rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon, shake off excess water, and put them on a serving plate.
Having once watched Martha Stewart shape gnocchi on TV, I tried to emulate her technique of pressing them gently against the tines of a form before dropping them in the water for about half of my gnocchi. They turned out just as ugly as the ones I more carelessly dropped in the water without shaping. YM(and skill
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