Brown Butter Gnocchi with Butternut Squash and Kale

It’s 2014 and one of my resolutions is to write more blog posts! So you should look forward to seeing more great recipes, gardening tips and home ideas this year.

Now that it’s finally Winter here in New Orleans at a whopping 32 degrees today, I can finally justify making warm, hearty and seasonal winter dishes. This recipe was inspired by a dish I had at a restaurant in Birmingham, AL (forgive me for forgetting the name) and I liked it so much that I wanted to recreate it at home. Not to toot my own horn – but it turned out great! I was even pleasantly surprised!

I love using seasonal produce in everything I cook because not only is it in season and available, but I get to experiment with new things. I started by sauteing onions, butternut squash and kale and in a separate pan made a brown butter sauce to pour over the mixture. The trick was to coat the gnocchi in the sauce first and then add the vegetables to bring it all together in the sauce. Top with some grated Parmesan cheese and you have a decadent and sophisticated winter dish! This would be perfect to impress your friends and family with at a dinner party.

Recipe

• 1 16 oz. package of Gnocchi pasta
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 Butternut squash, chopped into small cubes
• 2 cups of kale
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• Parmesan Cheese

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet or saucepan and then add onions. Saute onions in olive oil until they are slightly translucent and then add the chopped butternut squash until it was tender. Add salt and pepper to mixture at this point.

While the butternut squash cooks, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the gnocchi in 3 batches and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 7 to 8 minutes. Drain the gnocchi using a slotted spoon into a  bowl.

Once the butternut squash is done, add the kale and take the pan off the heat. The kale cooks very quickly and only needs to be stirred in the hot mixture to wilt down. If you like it very wilted you can add it earlier but I like mine to still have a little bit of a crunch

In a separate saute pan, heat the butter over medium-low heat stirring occasionally until it starts to turn golden brown. Add nutmeg and another pinch of salt and stir. Continue to heat until the butter turns caramel-colored brown. Remove from heat add the gnocchi back into the pan with the butter to coat and warm the pasta. Pour pasta and vegetables into a large serving bowl and mix well to coat everything.

Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve!