Brown Butter and Sage Sauce

Originally published on February 16, 2014

I love butter. I especially love it when it becomes brown, intensifies in flavour, and just makes me oh so happy. I also love sage. Fresh sage, that’s been fried in that mouth-watering brown butter, until it’s super crisp and also takes on an even deeper flavour. Combining the two, and putting it on something such as say, the perfect gnocchi – well, that’s one sure-fire way to get to culinary heaven.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons of butter
8 sage leaves
Juice from 1/2 lemon 
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.) Melt the butter in a large skillet or saucepan. Cook until it just starts becoming very golden, nearly brown.

2.) Add sage leaves and allow them to cook for a minute or two, until they turn a bit darker in colour and are crisp. Remove sauce from heat and add lemon juice.

3.) Drain pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid in the pot, and then place gnocchi or other pasta into the saucepan with the sauce. Add a bit of the reserved cooking liquid, return to heat for just a moment, add cheese, and toss again.

4.) Serve and enjoy!