Plantain Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter and Crispy Shallots

Gnocchi is traditionally built on potato, but ripe plantain — soft, sweet, and starchy once boiled — makes an equally good base, with its own faint caramel note that plays beautifully against the toasted, nutty flavor of brown butter. It's a dish that started as a kitchen experiment and turned out good enough to make on purpose.

This is a vegetarian dinner from start to finish: mashed plantain and flour form the dough, and everything else is butter, sage, and shallot. There's no claim of it being especially light — brown butter is brown butter — but it's a satisfying, meatless plate that still feels indulgent.

Work the dough gently so the gnocchi stay tender rather than dense, and don't rush the browning of the butter; you want it fragrant and flecked with golden solids before the sage goes in. Crispy shallots on top add the crunch the soft gnocchi are missing, and a shower of Parmesan finishes it off.