Brown Butter Gnocchi with Pancetta, Roasted Grapes, and Sage

Yes, but handle them carefully — homemade gnocchi are more delicate and can break apart during the sear. Cook them in boiling salted water first, drain well, and let them air-dry on a wire rack for 5 minutes before adding to the skillet. They'll still get a good crust if the pan is hot and dry before they go in.

Red seedless grapes (like Crimson or Red Globe) are ideal because their skin has enough structure to blister without bursting completely, and their juice is tart-sweet rather than cloying. Green grapes work but taste sharper and less complex once roasted. Concord grapes, if you can find them seasonally, are excellent — intensely flavored — but their seeds require straining the sauce.

Partially. Roast the grapes up to 2 hours ahead and hold them at room temperature. Cook the pancetta ahead too and set aside. When guests arrive, brown the butter, add the grapes and pancetta back in, sear the fresh gnocchi, and finish — the final assembly takes under 10 minutes. Don't fully assemble and reheat: gnocchi gets gluey when it sits in sauce.

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat in a nonstick skillet over medium heat with 1 tsp of water and a small pat of butter — this re-emulsifies the sauce. Microwave reheating works in a pinch but makes the gnocchi softer and the sauce greasy rather than glossy.

Not recommended. The butter sauce breaks on freezing and thawing, and gnocchi develops a grainy, watery texture after being frozen and reheated. Make this fresh; it's fast enough that freezing isn't worth it.

Thick-cut bacon (about 3 slices, cut into lardons) is the most accessible swap — it's smokier than pancetta but works well with the sweet grapes. Guanciale is a more authentic substitute and renders beautifully. Prosciutto can work but crisps up much faster, so add it at the very end rather than rendering it at the start.

Brown butter goes from nutty and golden to acrid and black in under 30 seconds if the heat is too high. Use medium heat and swirl the pan constantly once the foaming subsides. The moment you smell hazelnuts and see amber foam, pull it off the heat — residual pan heat will carry it the rest of the way. If it smells bitter, discard it and start over; there's no recovering burnt butter.

Not with most store-bought shelf-stable or refrigerated gnocchi — they're designed to be pan-seared directly. Check the package: if it says 'cook in boiling water,' do that first, then drain and dry before searing. DeLallo and Rana refrigerated gnocchi can go straight into the hot skillet from the package.

Wilted baby spinach or arugula stirred in off the heat works well — add 2 packed cups and toss until just wilted, about 30 seconds. Broccolini, roasted until crisp-tender on a sheet pan at 425°F for 12 minutes, is another option added at plating. Avoid anything watery like zucchini or tomatoes, which will thin the sauce.

Fresh thyme is the best alternative — add 4–5 sprigs to the butter at the same stage as the sage. Rosemary works but is more assertive; use only 1 sprig and remove before serving. Dried sage is not a good substitute here since frying fresh sage leaves in the butter is both a flavoring step and a textural element — the crispy leaves are part of the dish.