Gnocchi with Browned Butter and Sage

Fluffy pillows of gnocchi in a gorgeous garlic and browned-butter sauce with crispy sage leaves and a hint of lemon. Totally dreamy!

Use shop-bought or homemade gnocchi for this easy recipe. If you go with shop-bought, you can have this on the table in 15 minutes! If you're making your own, we're still only talking about 30-35 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 500 g (1.1lbs) fresh gnocchi - homemade or store-bought is fine
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pinch salt and pepper
• 75 g (⅓ cup) unsalted butter
• 20 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

To serve:

• grated parmesan (or vegetarian Italian-style hard cheese for vegetarian)
• Black pepper

Method:

1. Place the gnocchi in a pan of boiling water and boil the gnocchi until it floats.
2. Remove the gnocchi from the pan with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl.
3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat.
4. Add the gnocchi, plus a pinch of salt and pepper and fry the gnocchi for 5-6 minutes, turning oven, until the gnocchi is brown all over.
5. Remove the gnocchi from the pan and place in a bowl. If your pan has a lot of crispy bits in it (this might happen if you're using a non-stick pan), wipe/scrape them out. Don't worry about getting the pan spotless though, a few crispy bits are good.
6. Next, melt the butter in the frying pan 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 tiny bit nutty.
7. Add the fresh sage leaves and cook for a further 2 minutes.
8. Add the garlic and cook for a further 1 minutes, stirring often.
9. Add the cooked gnocchi to the pan and sprinkle on the salt and pepper.
10. Stir together and cook for a further minute.
11. Add the lemon zest and juice and stir together.
12. Divide between bowls and top with a little parmesan and black pepper.