Butternut Squash Agnolotti
with Kale in a Sage Brown Butter Sauce
- Tree Nuts
- Milk
- Eggs
- Wheat
Agnolotti (AH-nyo-LOAT-tee) are little pasta dumplings from northern Italy—think of them as ravioli’s daintier cousin. Even if they are smaller in size, they are no less impressive in flavor. Ours are filled with sweet butternut squash and prepared the traditional way in a sage and brown butter sauce. The only thing that’s not old-fashioned about it is how it comes together with modern-day efficiency and swiftness.
¼ cup
Parmesan Cheese
1 unit
Onion
½ ounce
Walnuts
()
4 ounce
Kale
1 clove
Garlic
2 tablespoon
Garlic Herb Butter
()
9 ounce
Butternut Squash Agnolotti
()
¼ ounce
Sage
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Olive Oil
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
()
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry all produce. Halve, peel, and thinly slice half the onion (all for 4 servings). Remove and discard any large stems from kale. Peel and mince or grate garlic. Pick sage leaves from stems; roughly chop leaves.
Heat a large drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion and cook until slightly softened, 3-4 minutes. Add half the kale (all for 4 servings); season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until tender, 5-7 minutes. TIP: If necessary, add a splash of water to help soften kale. Stir in garlic and another drizzle of olive oil. Cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Remove from pan; set aside.
Once water is boiling, add agnolotti to pot. Lower heat slightly and let water come to a gentle boil. Cook until agnolotti are tender and floating to the top, 3-5 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water, then drain.
While pasta cooks, melt 1 TBSP plain butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) in pan used for kale over medium heat. Add sage and walnuts. Cook, stirring, until walnuts smell toasty and butter is foamy and flecked with amber brown bits, 1-2 minutes.
Stir drained agnolotti, kale mixture, and ¼ cup reserved pasta cooking water (⅓ cup for 4 servings) into pan. Increase heat to high and let bubble until liquid is reduced by half, 2-3 minutes. TIP: If needed, add more reserved pasta cooking water a splash at a time until agnolotti are coated in sauce. Stir in garlic herb butter and half the Parmesan (save the rest for serving). Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Divide pasta between bowls. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and serve.
- Flavor: Many loved the delicious combination of butternut squash, sage, and brown butter; some found it mild and wanted more seasoning.
- Ease of prep: Quick and simple to make, though a few found timing the pasta tricky to avoid overcooking.
- Suggestions: Consider adding more kale, garlic, and walnuts; some enjoyed adding protein like chicken or sausage.
- Portions: Several wished for larger servings, especially more kale and pasta; others found it satisfyingly filling.
- Texture: The crunchy walnuts and tender pasta were highlights; some preferred crispier kale.
The flavor in this dish is insane! We have been getting meal kit home delivery service for over three years now, each and every week. This Butternut Squash Agnolotti with Kale in Brown Butter Sauce has easily taken our family's favorite meal position. Trust the ingredients and the process.... you won't be sorry.
Loved it. The kale, sage brown butter sauce, and toasted walnuts were the perfect compliment to the agnolotti. Bravo!
The kale was surprisingly fresh and very tender when cooked this way. The agnolotti which could have been bland was perfect with the delicious walnut brown butter sauce. We loved it.
Outstanding. We loved the taste of the butternut squash agnolottis alone, and with the added flavors and kale, this made for an awesome, healthy and tasty meal.
This is a great recipe! The kale was a great balance to the rich butternut squash pasta!
Kale/sage overwhelmed the sweet taste of the butternut squash. Recipe indicated that the basic ingredients contained double kale (for 4 person order) but did NOT indicate that the same was true of sage. So you might think you were putting in less than the full amount of sage for a 2-person recipe, when you were really putting in 150%. Step 5: 1/4 cup of water added to a medium high hot large pan disappears immediately. And then you were supposed to put the heat on high and let it cook for 2-3 minutes? No. Doesn't work. Even adding quite a lot of the water, I never saw anything that looked like sauce.
The sage brown butter sauce pulled all three of my roommates out of the rooms to come see what I was making. Very aromatic. The kale surprisingly works perfectly in this meal.
This was really, really good - not too sweet, which for us has been a problem with overly sweet butternut squash pastas. The toasted nuts and kale were a great accompaniment to the dish. Loved this!
Better than I thought it would be, since I don't eat kale much. It would have been better if there was more squash in the agnolotti...I felt like I just got a small taste of the squash.
Ease of prep was a good plus. Flavors were great, but the texture of the agnolotti pasta was a bit on the mushy side. Still, enjoyable, and glad to see use of butternut.
