Brown Butter Gnocchi With Butternut Squash, Sage, and Toasted Hazelnuts

Perfectly roasted butternut squash is served over brown butter gnocchi with candied fried sage, gooey fresh mozzarella, and toasted hazelnuts in this perfect fall dish.

Comfort food at its best, browned butter gnocchi with roasted butternut squash elevates your weeknight cooking with an explosion of fall flavors. This is a really easy recipe to make and uses simple ingredients while giving you a restaurant-quality meal at home.

One of my favorite meals in the fall is butternut squash ravioli, while this is not a ravioli dish, it has the components of my favorite ravioli dinner - candies sage, toasted hazelnuts, and roasted butternut squash.

You can find whole hazelnuts in the produce department where the bulk packaged nuts are located. Additionally, you can find chopped hazelnuts by Open Nature in the baking aisle. However, for this recipe, I would stick with the whole hazelnuts and roughly chop them so you have some larger pieces for a delicious crunch.

Ingredients

butternut squash, peeled and cubed
olive oil
salt and pepper
butter
sage
1 teaspoon sugar
hazelnuts
skillet gnocchi (I used 2 bags of Giovanni Rana Skillet Gnocchi)
fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped into cubes
balsamic glaze
grated parmesan cheese, for garnish

How to Make Gnocchi with Roasted Butternut Squash

Preheat the oven to 450° F.

Peel and cut the butternut squash into ½ inch cubes.

Place the cubed squash on a baking sheet, toss with ½ tablespoon of olive oil until each piece is coated. Season with salt and pepper. Roast the squash for 15 minutes until tender. Flipping once during the cooking time to ensure evenly roasted squash.

Meanwhile, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan. Add the sage leaves and sprinkle with just a touch of sugar over each leaf. Fry until crispy (about 2-3 minutes total), turning the leaves and sprinkling the other side with sugar.

Remove the fried sage from the pan and roughly chop. Set aside.

Roughly chop the hazelnuts and add to the pan with the browned butter. Toast the hazelnuts for 4-5 minutes until golden and toasted, stirring often. Remove the hazelnuts from the pan.

Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet and brown the butter slightly by letting it melt and turn a golden brown color. Add the gnocchi to the pan and toss in the butter. Add the roasted squash, then add the cubed mozzarella cheese and stir to incorporate. Add the fried sage, hazelnuts, and one tablespoon of balsamic glaze. Stir to coat and remove from the heat to serve.

Substitution and Addition ideas

For a nutrition boost, add chopped kale or spinach when you add the roasted squash to the gnocchi. Additionally, I have also made this with sauteed onions, which add a slight sweetness that complements the squash and ties the dish together. If you want to sub ricotta cheese for the mozzarella, that is also an option, for a creamier texture.