Fluffy and cheesy, covered in tomato sauce, a treat for your eyes and your palate. Enjoy one of Sorrento’s favorite dishes and try our recipe for Gnocchi alla Sorrentina.
You need a few ingredients for this Gnocchi and just a bit of practice but it is an easy and yummy dish that will take you back to Sorrento and its home cooking
Let me present to you Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, fluffy potato gnocchi in a creamy tomato and basil sauce, coated with fused mozzarella cheese, all baked in the oven with a garnish of grated provolone. This famous dish, which presents an integral part of Campanian traditional cuisine, is now known around the world as the perfect family meal as well as an excellent example of gourmet comfort food. Before we get to the recipe, which I can anticipate is much easier than expected when considering how delicious this hearty meal is, let’s explore how this dish came to be in the first place.
Gnocchi alla Sorrentina has been enjoyed by Italian citizens for centuries, in order to retrace their origins we must head back to the XVI century when, through trades with what Europeans defined as “The New World” (Modern Day America), many new products began being imported giving way to a variety of new recipes. Of particular interest to us in this case, is the increase in the use of the potato. According to popular tales handed down through generations, in a tavern in Via del Tasso, Sorrento, a curious cook began experimenting with said vegetable. He quickly discovered that by boiling them, crushing them then adding flour and water you obtained a soft and easily manageable dough that, when cut into small round pieces and boiled, maintained its shape and was extremely pleasant to eat. The garnish he decided upon was simple, tomatoes and cheese, soon after the plate became an undeniable classic.
When making the dish you can go down to very different roads:
– road A) You want to refine your culinary abilities and have a satisfying as well as authentic experience therefore you roll up your sleeves deciding to make the gnocchi yourself.
– Road B) You absolutely can’t wait to dive into the tasty bowl of gnocchi and don’t have much time so you simply buy already made gnocchi. Either way you are guaranteed a great lunch or dinner. If you’ve picked the first of the two options then proceed directly with the recipe below, on the other hand if you’ve picked the second then skip the first instructions.
| Cooking Time | Difficulty | Portions | Recipe cost |
| 40 min +10 min+ 20 min | Easy recipe | 4 | Low |
Ingredients for the gnocchi (serves 4):
- 1 kg potatoes (7 medium potatoes)
- 200 g // 1 ¾ cup 00 flour type
- 1 egg
- Salt to taste
Instructions for making the gnocchi:
Wash your potatoes then place them in a large pot with water and boil them for 30/40 minutes. When the potatoes are soft, remove them from the water, peel them while still warm and crush them with a potato masher. I know, hands of steel. A secret is to peel them under cold water.
Place the potatoes into a mound on a flat surface then make a hole in the middle, there add the egg and a pinch of salt as well as the flour. Work the mixture into a firm dough. Add more flour only if needed but keep in mind the more flour you add the less soft your gnocchi will be. Don’t overwork the dough, the process should take around 10 minutes.
Once you have a nice dough, dust the surface where you’re kneading with some flour and divide the dough into rolls that have the diameter of a coin (0.5 inches), then using a sharp knife slice the gnocchi (around 1 inch each).
They have to look like small square chocolates.
Using a fork (for lack of proper instruments) gently roll one side of the gnocchi on the fork’s tine. This is just to have good-looking gnocchi, so if you are hungry just skip it.
Boil a pot of water with a pinch of salt then add the gnocchi. As soon as they are floating on the surface, they are ready. Strain them and put them in a dish while you prepare the sauce.
Ingredients for the sauce:
- 200 g // 1 cup tomato sauce
- Oil to taste
- 200 g // 7.1 oz mozzarella
- Basil to taste
- 80 g // 3.1 oz provolone cheese (or semi-hard cheddar)
1 clove of garlic
Instructions for the sauce:
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celcius // 400 degrees fahrenheit. Put some oil, a clove of garlic, the tomato sauce and as much salt as needed in a pan, let everything simmer on a medium – low flame for around 30 minutes. Add some basil. Take the gnocchi and add them to the sauce, cook everything together for a minute. Place the gnocchi in a ceramic oven dish, add the sliced cheese on top, and cook in the oven for 15 minutes.
Enjoy!