In a sea of pumpkin-flavored foods, there simply aren’t enough pumpkin-shaped foods (actual pumpkins don’t count). To maximize the festiveness of our food, we’re starting with making pumpkin-flavored dishes that also look like the adorable calabaza. A handful of whole cloves and some dental floss is all you need to transform standard potato dumplings into fancy pumpkin gnocchi.

Forming these miniature pumpkin dumplings is surprisingly easy, so don’t overthink it. Start with a gnocchi recipe you like, or use mine at the bottom of this post; there are a wide variety of pumpkin gnocchi recipes out there, and it’s really a matter of preference.

My only advice is that the thicker the dough, the better the pumpkin shape will be. When making gnocchi, it can be tricky to find the balance between too much and too little flour. For example, if you are making a classic rolled gnocchi, you can leave out the extra flour in favor of a fluffier texture. For these little guys, however, you will need extra flour to ensure a smoother shape. Less flour in your recipe will make them look a bit wrinkled (but some pumpkins look wrinkled too, so who are we to judge?)

Once you've chosen a recipe and mixed the gnocchi dough, you can dust your counter or work surface with flour.