Butternut Squash Tortellini with Dairy-Free Sage Brown Butter

The first time I made this recipe, my sister and I were holed up with our kids in a Denver snowstorm. At first bite I was thankful. Thankful for family and for a warm home as the beautiful snowflakes fluttered down. Thankful for ingredients that make dairy-free living easy and delicious. And thankful for the wonderful dairy-free butternut squash tortellini sitting before us.

Dairy-Free Butternut Squash Tortellini drizzled with Vegan Brown Butter

Ask anyone who has gone dairy-free what one dairy-full delight they miss most and you’ll likely get a host of replies. But for me it’s butter—salted, creamy butter. So when I ran across a recipe in Epicurious for butternut squash cappellacci with sage brown butter, a tear of longing fell from my eye. If you’ve ever had brown butter, you get it.

Brown butter is a rather magical ingredient. Its flavor is rich, nutty, and out-of-this-world. When I saw it drizzled over picture-perfect butternut squash pasta, I knew I had to find a way to recreate the dish and make it without dairy.

Like many things dairy, there’s no absolute equal to true brown butter. But I was determined to come up with a drizzle that resembled it. I wanted it to be something close to the real thing that I could spoon over this adapted recipe for dairy-free butternut squash tortellini.

True brown butter is made by melting butter over medium heat, swirling the pan as you go. The butter is cooked just until it begins to foam and the milk solids start to brown. The browned solids are the magically flavorful part.

In this dairy-free butternut squash tortellini recipe I’ve done a little work-around to achieve a close and lovely buttery and nutty drizzling sauce. I’ve also adapted the pasta filling to be dairy free—letting nutritional yeast step in ever so subtly to replace the parmesan cheese. Additionally, I have simplified by using prepared wonton wrappers in place of homemade rolled pasta sheets.

Choosing a Dairy-Free Butter Alternative

You can use a buttery spread or buttery sticks. A ½ cup typically equals one buttery stick. I typically use Earth Balance, which comes in both buttery spread and buttery sticks. Avoid using a light version. Dairy-free browned butter sauce will come out much better with a full-fat alternative. Other brands like Melt or Miyoko’s should work well. Do not use Smart Balance butter alternatives. They have reformulated in recent years, and most of their products are now lower in fat.

Special Diet Notes: Butternut Squash Tortellini

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, plant-based, and vegetarian.

For strictly egg-free and vegan butternut squash tortellini, seek out egg-free wonton wrappers. Most brands of wonton wrappers are dairy free, but contain egg. A couple vegan brands exist, like Nasoya wonton wrappers. Another option is to look for gyoza / potsticker wrappers, which are more often egg free. Or you can roll your own dough! Homemade wonton wrappers are not as simple as Alexa’s shortcut, but are not that difficult either. Use round cookie cutters or biscuit cutters for more traditionally shaped tortellini.

For gluten-free, dairy-free butternut squash tortellini, I recommend the wonton wrapper recipe in The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen, or you might like this gluten-free wonton wrapper recipe.

Alexa Croft

Dairy-Free Butternut Squash Tortellini

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This recipe incorporates some quick shortcuts that save time without sacrificing taste. I use wonton wrappers for the pasta and roast the squash whole. The finished tortellini is drizzled with a rich dairy-free brown butter that's infused with sage. It's a comforting dish that my family loves, and is so much cheaper than store-bought.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 minutes mins

Total Time 28 minutes mins

Servings: 5 servings

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Italian

Calories: 258

Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 ¼ cups roasted butternut squash see instructions below
• 4 tablespoons finely ground pretzel crumbs divided (see Pretzel Note below)
• 3 tablespoons lite canned coconut milk or unsweetened plain dairy-free creamer
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• ½ teaspoon salt plus additional to taste
• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 25 wonton wrappers
• ½ cup dairy-free buttery spread
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves can sub 2 teaspoons dried sage
• ¼ teaspoon lemon juice optional
• Black pepper to taste

Method

 

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the S blade, process the butternut squash, 3 tablespoons pretzel crumbs, coconut milk or creamer, nutritional yeast, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and nutmeg until smooth.
2. Spoon 1 heaping teaspoon butternut squash mixture onto the center of a wonton sheet. Moisten all of the edges of the wonton sheet and fold opposite ends over to make a triangle. Press down firmly but gently around the filling to seal and force out air pockets. Bring the two opposite corners together, overlapping the ends, to make a small ring, then press them together. repeat with the remaining filling in wonton wrappers.
3. To cook the tortellini, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Reduce the heat to bring the water to down to a simmer. You don't want a rolling boil as this might cause the tortellini to break open. Add the tortellini and cook until al dente, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the cooked tortellini with a slotted spoon.
4. Meanwhile, heat the buttery spread in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon pretzel crumbs and sage. Swirling, cook until the pretzel crumbs are slightly brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, if using. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.
5. Plate the tortellini and drizzle with the dairy-free brown butter to serve.

Nutrition

Serving: 5tortellini + 1.5 tablespoons brown butterCalories: 258kcalCarbohydrates: 28.3gProtein: 4.7gFat: 14.3gSaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 639mgFiber: 1.9gSugar: 0.9g

Notes

Roasted Butternut Squash: Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Prick a small to medium butternut squash with a fork in several places and place it in a baking dish. Bake the butternut squash for 1 hour or until a knife easily pierces through the squash and it’s beginning to collapse. Let the squash cool for about 30 minutes. Cut it in half lengthwise, being careful as steam might release. Scoop out the seeds and use the flesh for your tortellini filling. Leftover squash can be frozen.

Pretzel Note: Grind a small handful of pretzels in a coffee grinder or crush in a zip top bag until very fine. Bread crumbs would make a perfectly fine stand-in.

Nutritional Yeast Note: It adds a hint of cheesiness to the butternut squash filling, but you won't overtly taste it. Don't be afraid of this ingredient if you typically don't like nutritional yeast. It is quite subtle but helps to replace the flavor of Parmesan cheese. If you really don't want to use it or don't have any on hand, you can omit it. Or if you have a store bought vegan Parmesan, you can use that instead.

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Also try your hand at Homemade Dairy-Free Gnocchi!