Brown Butter Sage Pasta

[landhoney]

I've had this at restaurants a couple times and decided to just try it last night. Very good and very simple.

Half a stick of butter (for 2-3 servings)
10-12 fresh sage leaves chopped rough
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese (the good stuff, you only need a little)
pasta of choice (I used store bought refrigerated fresh butternut squash ravioli)

Cook the pasta in salted water.

Heat butter in pan over low/medium heat until brown. This is the only tricky part, don't burn the butter!

Once the butter is just beginning to brown add the sage leaves, you want to cook the sage leaves a few minutes at least.

Strain pasta, add pasta to brown butter pan, mix lightly, plate and add salt/pepper very lightly, and parmesan cheese liberally.

The nutty brown butter, with the sage, and the creamy cheesey ravioli, with the sharp parmesan is an amazing combination that is more than the sum of its simple ingredients.

The pasta is your choice, but everytime I have had it was some kind of cheese/vegetable ravioli or other stuffed pasta (pumpkin, squash, mushroom, or just cheese) and I think that is best, meat in this case might not always be better.

Lastly, if your still reading, Mario Batali's version adds lemon juice, which may be better but I have not tried it (I will soon though and report back).

[N2Advnture]

Sounds easy AND delicious, thanks for a new menu option for the week

[DocLogic77]

I have made this dish before...almost exact same recipe. It is terrific.

[Ranger_B]

Sounds like a winner. I will have to give this a try. Thanks

[Kreth]

Sounds delicious! I love sage, sometimes I'll use rubbed sage in a steak rub.
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[slickster81]

Good stuff, been eating it for many years after some Northern Italian friends introduced us to it.

The only difference? They added lots of thinly sliced garlic, and poached it in the butter until brown....long and slow, then added the sage.

Try it that way, the garlic gets almost like a candy consistency, and the flavor will knock your socks off.

[TBone]

Thanks for the recipe...going to have to try this

[swh127]

I have never been able to get brown butter without burning it, any tips?

[slickster81]

Low to medium low heat and patience. What you are doing actually has 3 phases.

1 - Butterfat melts and water evaporates out of the butter.
2 - Milk solids separate from the butterfat.
3 - Milk solids begin to brown in the butterfat (and the fat browns as well).

I usually start out with a medium heat, once the butter melts it will foam, when the foaming subsides, the water is gone.
Lower the heat a bit and stir well, scrape the crust off the sides into the butter.
WATCH it closely, the bits in the bottom will begin to brown, when they do, watch even closer as they will go from a nice golden brown to coffee grounds black in no time. When they are a medium brown, take the pan off the heat and use the butter.

Browning butter properly takes about 10-15 minutes once you get the hang of it.

The brown butter/sage recipe is more forgiving if you add the sliced garlic as the garlic will be nice and brown before the butter can burn. Plus it is just plain yummy!

[CigarGuy88]

Another thing you can do with sage brown butter is use it with maple syrup and cinnamon and sweet potato gnocchi or sweet potato ravioli... Killer dish!