Butter Sage Sauce
Recipe courtesy Mario Batali

Brown butter is a traditional French sauce made from heated unsalted butter. Called beurre noisette in French, translating to hazelnut butter, it is named for its rich, nutty flavor. It's often used in pastry making and is classically paired with pasta in northern Italy. This versatile sauce is perfect for ravioli, gnocchi, and tortellini. Brown butter pairs beautifully with autumnal ingredients like chanterelle mushrooms, pumpkin, and butternut squash. Butternut squash ravioli and sweet potato ravioli make excellent companions. You can also serve it simply over fettuccine. This sauce is also lovely drizzled over firm-baked white fish, such as cod, or simple roasted chicken.

FMM: A recipe I found interesting used 3/8 cup chopped walnuts for every 1/2 pound tortellini. They were toasted in the butter before adding the sage leaves. Walnuts adds some texture and contrasts the creamy butter and rich ravioli. A tip from this recipe: If you think things are getting too dark, add a splash or two of pasta cooking liquid to the hot pan. Note: this will halt the browning process.

This is a very rich dish with all the butter. I would only make this on rare occasions.

Pasta, of choice, 1/2 pound [reviewers used butternut squash, pumpkin ravioli, or other ravioli]
4 tablespoons butter [cut into pieces for more even browning]
8 fresh sage leaves
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

While your pasta cooks, melt butter in a 12 to 14-inch saute pan. Once melted, reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking until golden brown color ("noisette") appears in the thinnest liquid of the butter.

[It will get very foamy and hard to see the bottom of the skillet, so use spatula to drag through butter—you should leave a trail of little brown specks in your wake (a.k.a. toasty, delicious milk solids). As your butter starts to foam, it will sizzle after. Listen to the sizzling and as soon as it stops remove the pan from heat. Keeping it on much longer will cause it to burn. At this point your butter should be very deeply golden with some dark bits on the bottom and smell extremely nutty.]

Add sage leaves and remove from heat. Add lemon juice and set aside. Drain the pasta, but leaving some cooking water, and gently pour into saute pan and return to heat. Add the cheese, toss to coat and serve immediately.

[Note: You can make brown butter ahead of time. Let it cool completely before transferring to a glass container, such as a Mason jar.]

4 servings