Tie a piece of baker’s twine tightly across a two-handled large saucepan. Fill saucepan halfway with water and add 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a simmer.

While water comes to a simmer, make gnocchi dough. In a food processor, pulse ricotta, egg, parmesan cheese and salt until mixture comes together, scraping down sides once. Add flour and pulse again until mixture appears thick, about 20 seconds.

Scoop all dough into a gallon-sized plastic zip-top bag. Squeeze all air out of bag and seal top. Press all contents into one corner of the bag. Snip small section of plastic bag from the corner to create a ½ -3/4 inch opening. In three batches, pipe gnocchi into 1 inch lengths over simmering water, using string to cut gnocchi—see photo.

Simmer gnocchi until they float to the top; then set timer for 5 minutes. When timer rings, remove from the water with a slotted spoon and place on a lightly oiled sheet tray to firm up. (If making in advance, allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate. When ready to cook, place in simmering water for 3 minutes to heat).

While the last batch of gnocchi is simmering, start the brown butter. Melt butter in a medium skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add sage leaves to the pan; cook until dark green and crisp, remove and save for later. Continue to cook butter until the sediment on the bottom begins to brown and smell nutty. Turn heat down to low.

Add gnocchi to pan with butter, cook 2 minutes on each side. Serve with crisped sage leaves if desired.