I love a tasty dish that comes together in just a few minutes with just a few ingredients. This pumpkin seed pesto is a wonderful diversion from a normal basil pesto, its perfect for fall - and a great way to use all those pumpkin seeds you'll have laying around after you carve your Jack-O-Lanterns! The fact that you brown the gnocchi in the pan with the mushrooms at the end, it just makes this dish much more magical than normal boiled gnocchi. I'm betting you and your family will really enjoy it. 

Ingredients for Pesto:
1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 
1 tablespoon water
1 garlic clove
salt & pepper to taste

Ingredients for gnocchi:
1 sixteen ounce pkg gnocchi
16 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 cups arugula

Directions: 
In a food processor pulse your seeds, cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, water, and garlic until a smooth paste forms. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Cook your gnocchi for 2-3 minutes in a pot of boiling water until they float to the top. While your gnocchi boil, heat your butter in a large skillet. Add your mushrooms and saute them. Once the gnocchi is done cooking, drain them and add them to your skillet of mushrooms. Add your pesto to the pan and cook everything on medium high heat until your mushrooms are sauteed and your gnocchi are golden brown. Add basil and arugula at the end and cook for another 60 seconds. 

Full of protein, greens, and a wonderful texture and flavor. What more could you want from a quick easy 15 minute meal? Enjoy!