Gnocchi with Brown Butter & Sage

Gnocchi in brown butter and sage sauce is a wonderful autumn/winter dish and it is easy to make at home.

February 18, 2021

Gnocchi with Brown Butter & Sage. Photos by Ted Scheffler.

Years ago, when I was the restaurant critic for Las Vegas Life magazine, I reviewed a restaurant at the Bellagio Hotel called Olives. It was Boston restaurateur Todd English’s Mediterranean-style Vegas eatery and I really loved it. I especially loved his dish of gnocchi in brown butter and sage sauce. It’s a wonderful autumn/winter dish and it is easy to make at home. Of course, at Olives it was made with homemade gnocchi, but you can use store-bought pasta to simplify the dish. Be gentle with the butter; you want to brown it lightly, not burn it. Also, although it’s called brown butter “sauce,” it’s really just a light coating, more akin to dressing, not a thick, heavy sauce.

How to make Gnocchi with Brown Butter & Sage?

Ingredients:

1 lb. Italian-style gnocchi
Kosher salt
5 Tbsp unsalted butter (the better the butter quality, the better the sauce will be)
1 Tbsp olive oil
A dozen or so fresh sage leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Method:

First, cook the gnocchi according to package directions. Bring a pot of well-salted water to a slow boil and add the gnocchi. Cook gently, stirring, until the gnocchi floats to the top of the water. This will probably only take 2-3 minutes.
Drain the gnocchi well in a colander. You could use the gnocchi now, but I like to allow it to dry in a single layer on a kitchen towel so the gnocchi isn’t starchy and doesn’t stick to the saucepan.
Over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the olive oil in a large skillet.
When the butter is hot and bubbly and starting to turn golden colored, add the sage leaves and stir, crisping them a bit.
Add the cooked gnocchi to the pan and stir, browning the gnocchi a little. Try not to burn the butter! Season with black pepper, to taste.
Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

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Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine & travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers.

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cooking at home, Gnocchi with Brown Butter & Sage, recipe

Ted Scheffler

Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine, and travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, music, and reading, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers. Ted is also the author of the Utah Bites newsletter, which is published in partnership with Utah Stories. Before moving to Utah, Ted lived in New York City, and numerous states in the US, as well as in various countries overseas, Spain, Japan, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. He earned a Master’s Degree in Anthropology from the Graduate Faculty of The New School for Social Research.