I’ve been visiting our facilities this week in Oroville and Artois, in northern California. We’re gearing up for the olive harvest, which begins next week. As you can imagine, our harvest team will be extremely busy picking the olives and rushing them to the mills. And our mill staff will be busy crushing the olives into extra virgin olive oil. At this point we expect a good harvest and good oil.

The autumn harvest is in full swing here in northern California. Grapes apples and figs also are in season. Pumpkins are, too.

I mention pumpkins because I have a great recipe that’s fitting for the fall harvest: pumpkin gnocchi with Parmesan and sage.

It comes to us by way of Chef Ray Garcia, who leads the kitchen at Santa Monica’s FIG Restaurant, inside the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows. It’s a seasonal bistro that specializes in locally grown and organically sourced ingredients.

“A great dining experience begins with ingredient selection,” says Garcia. “I work with local growers and producers and comb the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market each week in search of the freshest, most flavorful ingredients.”

To make the gnocchi, Garcia roasts cubed pumpkin with extra virgin olive oil until the pumpkin is fork tender. He passes the roasted pumpkin through a food mill, and then combines the pumpkin with eggs, cake flour and softened butter. Garcia uses the tines of a fork to shape the dough into gnocchi.

Once the gnocchi are cooked in water, he tosses them in a frying pan with melted butter and sage. The finished gnocchi are topped with Parmesan and EVOO.

Sounds like a great way to celebrate the harvest.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

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