Heat the oil and butter in a 4 to 5 quart Dutch oven or stock pot over medium, until shimmering. Add the onions, and saute until soft (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic, salt, and nutmeg and stir until fragrant (just 30 seconds or so).

Spoon in the pumpkin puree, and combine thoroughly with the onion mixture.

Tip in the broth and stir to create a smooth base. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to low while you make the blue cheese sauce.

Heat butter in a medium sauce pot over medium heat, until melted. Stir in the flour to form a thick paste.

Add a ¼ cup of the half and half and stir well. It will be lump at first, but will smooth out a bit. Adding the remaining half and half in ¼-cup increments, and keep stirring, until the bechamel is thick enough to drip slowly from a spoon.

Add the blue cheese cubes at all once, and stir until melted (this could take a few minutes).

Follow the package directions to boil the gnocchi. If you're using my pumpkin gnocchi recipe: bring a pot of water to boil, drop in the gnocchi, and cook for 3 minutes. They should plump up and float.

To pan-fry the gnocchi: heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium until melted. Add the gnocchi, and saute until golden brown (7-8 minutes).

Stir the blue cheese sauce into the pumpkin soup. Use an immersion blender to completely smooth out the soup (you can also use a standard blender; you'll need to work in batches).

Ladle the soup in bowls, and top each serving with a generous amount of gnocchi. Garnish with fried sage, if desired.