Preheat oven to 350°. Place pecans on a cookie sheet and roast for 8-10 mins or until slightly darkened. Set aside to cool, then chop pecans into small pieces. Set aside. Turn oven up to 400°.

Peel squash and cut vertically down the middle. Scoop out seeds and cut squash into 1-inch-wide strips. Then cut each strip into 1-inch (bite-size) pieces. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and arrange on a baking sheet. Roast in oven for 25-35 minutes or until tender and lightly browned.

Place butter and sage leaves in a cold sauté pan. Set heat to low and melt butter – this will infuse the flavor of the sage leaves into the butter. Turn up heat to medium-low and slowly sizzle sage in butter. The milk solids in the butter will start to separate and brown, and sage leaves will start to crisp. When butter is light brown and smells nutty, remove from heat and set aside.

Put ricotta cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper (to taste) and fold all ingredients together. Cover bowl in plastic and refrigerate.

Arrange warm roasted squash pieces on a serving platter. Using a teaspoon or a piping bag, place a small dollop of ricotta mixture on the center of each squash bite. Drizzle with browned sage butter and sprinkle sage leaves on top of squash. Finish with roasted pecans and serve.