If you haven’t made the Hard Cider and Sage Bread I made at the beginning of the week, you should go make it now. Partly because its delicious on its own, and partly because it is the perfect vessel for this ridiculously easy sage butter. For those of you have made it, I’m guessing you have some extra sage lying around you’d like to use up. I did. This is more of a general technique than an actual recipe. If you haven’t made an herb butter before, you can make pretty much any variety you like this way.
You will need:
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp
- About 4 Tbs chopped fresh sage (I used about 15 leaves)
All you do is add both of these things to a bowl and mash them together with a spoon. Seriously. That’s it. Then spoon the butter mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll it up into a log of herb butter. Let it firm back up in the fridge. If you want a different type of herb to flavor a butter, just substitute it in.
If you are using it for spreading, just take it out of the fridge a little ahead of time to soften, like you would with normal butter. Herb butter is actually a really handy thing to have on hand. It saves time, adds flavor, and even preserves your herbs inside the butter. So its great for using leftover herbs so that they don’t go bad. Am I the only one who always has to throw away half the contents of those little herb packets from the store?
You can also use herb butters on top of meats and vegetables. Or you can make them into sauces for pasta. I feel like I owe you some more information in this post. So, to make a sage butter sauce, just remelt your butter in a small saucepan or a bowl in the microwave. Then add 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese to it and stir. This type of sauce is great for all pasta, but especially heavier ones such as ravioli and gnocchi. Conveniently, sage goes well with most fall flavors, so it is a perfect sauce for pumpkin or squash pastas. However you use it, enjoy the high reward you get from almost no work making your own herb butters!
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