This simple recipe for Crispy Brown Butter Gnocchi with Sage and Parmesan pairs tender, pillowy homemade potato and ricotta gnocchi with an autumnal brown butter, sage and parmesan sauce. It makes for the perfect Italian-inspired dinner for two, and can also be sped up using pre-made gnocchi instead!
This is one of those flavour combinations that just works so incredibly well and is evidence that you don’t need a huge number of ingredients to make something truly delicious.
By all means you can use store bought gnocchi and toss it in the brown butter, sage and parmesan sauce, but if you’ve never made your own and have wondered how to do it, it’s actually incredibly simple to make and it does taste quite a bit better than store bought. But I am saying that as someone who does also use the kind you can buy a lot as well so there’s no judgment here. Whatever works best for you!
The combination of brown butter and crispy sage is so so good. I love it and it seems to taste even better when it’s getting colder and the leaves are crunchy on the ground.
Ingredients
- russet potatoes (if you can't get hold of russet potatoes, any variety which makes good mashed potatoes will do!)
- plain flour (also sold as all-purpose flour - 00 pasta flour can also be used if you have a bag open)
- ricotta
- freshly grated parmesan (pre-grated parmesan tends to come with a coating to stop it sticking together which we want to avoid)
- large egg
- sea salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- olive oil (choose a good light cooking olive oil here, not your best extra virgin!)
- unsalted butter (by choosing unsalted butter you can easily control the amount of salt that goes into the dish)
- fresh sage leaves
- fresh garlic
- zest and juice of one lemon
What should I serve this Brown Butter Gnocchi with?
In all honesty, a big bowl of this is as delicious as it is comforting. However, sometimes we do agree that a slightly more balanced meal is necessary, especially on a weeknight. A few suggestions:
- roasted broccoli
- garlic green beans
- simple salad
- oven-roasted crispy chicken thighs
- roasted sausages
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes -- the fresh stuff that comes in bags in the fridge section will have a much better flavour (and crisp up better!) than the shelf stable variety. Note you will have to boil the gnocchi before pan frying if you're going for one of the denser supermarket brands: usually these are round with little ridges all over them. You can get away not doing so with softer brands like Dell'Ugo.
You can bake the potatoes ahead, or even make the gnocchi a few hours ahead of continuing with the recipe, just keep them on a plate in the fridge dusted with flour or semolina to stop them sticking to each other.
No, if you are going to pan-fry gnocchi, there is no need to boil beforehand. If you do, the gnocchi will take on water and make it harder to gain a golden exterior (but you can do it if you would rather a softer bite). For this recipe, simply fry the gnocchi for 5-6 minutes in olive oil in a pan over medium-high. This recipe only requires boiling if you’d rather it that way. Both techniques achieve different results. Boiling gnocchi turns them into pillowy small bites, they should be fluffy and light. It makes for a smoother and more typical bowl of ‘pasta’. Pan-frying gnocchi crisps them up so it adds a bit more bite to your dish. They can also look a bit more visually appealing in this way as they have that golden allure! Homemade gnocchi tends to be even more pillowy than shop-brought, so pan-frying them gives you the best of both worlds.
The short answer is yes! The longer answer is that we wouldn’t bother with the faff. Not when we know you want to get a meal on the table to please everyone sat around it. Whilst boiling it before is fine and some say it lends itself to a lighter, fluffier texture on the inside, we don’t think the effort of doing both makes for a big enough difference to make it worthwhile. Unless of course, as we just discussed, you're using store bought which is a shortcut anyway!
You Might Also Enjoy
- Homemade Cavolo Nero Gnocchi
- Easy Cheesy Tomato Baked Gnocchi
- Creamy Lemon Butter Pasta Sauce
- Cherry Tomato and Mascarpone Orzo
- Creamy Courgette (Zucchini) Pasta Sauce Recipe
Gnocchi with Brown Butter, Sage and Parmesan
This easy recipe for homemade Gnocchi with Brown Butter, Sage and Parmesan makes a flavourful weeknight dinner - with the option for using store bought gnocchi instead if you're in a hurry!
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the Gnocchi
- 2 medium russet potatoes
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup ricotta
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
- Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the Sauce
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- 75 g (⅓ cup) unsalted butter
- 10 fresh sage leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely sliced
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of ½ lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200c. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place potatoes onto a baking sheet and pierce them a few times with a fork. Place into oven and bake until tender, about 1 hour. Let them cool completely so you can handle them.
- Cut in half; scoop flesh into a medium bowl and mash. Transfer 1 ½ cups to a large bowl; stir in flour, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into an 18-inch long rope, about 1-inch in diameter, sprinkling with additional flour as needed to prevent sticking. Using a sharp knife, cut each rope into ¾-inch bite-size pieces; transfer to baking sheet.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; cook gnocchi until tender, stirring occasionally, about 4-6 minutes. You might need to do this in batches. Remove the gnocchi from the pan with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl.
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat.
- Add the gnocchi, plus a pinch of salt and pepper and fry the gnocchi for 5-6 minutes, flipping them over until the gnocchi is brown all over.
- Remove the gnocchi from the pan and place in a bowl.
- Wipe the pan out and then melt the butter over a medium heat. Once melted, continue to cook for a further 2-3 minutes, until it starts to go a very light brown and smells a bit nutty.
- Add the fresh sage leaves and cook for a minute. Watch them closely as you don’t want them to burn, they will taste very bitter. They will also crisp up when you take them out of the pan.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring often.
- Add the cooked gnocchi to the pan and sprinkle on the salt and pepper.
- Stir together, squeeze in the lemon juice and add the zest and cook for a further minute.
- Divide between bowls and top with plenty of parmesan and black pepper.
Notes
You can bake the potatoes ahead, or even make the gnocchi a few hours ahead of continuing with the recipe, just keep them on a plate in the fridge dusted with flour or semolina to stop them sticking to each other.
Leave a Reply