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Sorrento style baked gnocchi with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil.
Giovedi Gnocchi. In Italy, we dedicated gnocchi a weekday: Thursday. In case we forget to eat pasta.
Do we even need a reason to eat Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina?
Sorrento style Gnocchi is a classic comfort mouthwatering food that comes from the coast of Sorrento near Naples. It has 5 ingredients: gnocchi, mozzarella, tomato sauce, basil, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
When I was a Law student I ate Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina once a week. Yeah, I used to have this hot date with myself.
I was crazy about this dish that incomprehensibly my mother never made. Yes, Mamma and Zia Lavinia made gnocchi al pomodoro, but they did it without passion. It was more an easy crowd-pleasing option than a signature dish. Maybe that’s why I like Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina so much.
I have a confession to make: I don’t know how to make gnocchi. I tried three times: too hard, too mushy, too bland. All this bad karma about gnocchis made me gave up but I swear I’ll find the foolproof gnocchi recipe and I’ll update the post. Meanwhile, enjoy this free-time gained buying guilt-free store-bought gnocchi and use it to scroll Instagram’s stories and feel inadequate 🙂 #realife
You might need to know that: I make my Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina obscenely covered in tomato sauce and mozzarella. In this way, Matteo, my husband can make Scarpetta (a piece of bread that, We The Italians, proudly use to collect every drop of sauce left in the dish and left it perfectly mopped).
Ingredients:
- 500 gr/1.1 Lb of Gnocchi( I like the Trader’s Joes from Italy)
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 500 grams of tomato sauce (I like the organic Bionaturae because of its ingredients: just strained tomatoes!!!)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Fresh basil leaves
- 500 gr of mozzarella, well-drained and cut or torn in small pieces (if you have mozzarella with low moisture it’s better. If you have classic mozzarella put it on a colander to drain its water and/or o squeeze it. I recommend this step as mozzarella tends to releases water in the oven and you’ll get a mushy watery boiled something).
- 3 tablespoons of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
It’s practically a 1:1 ratio, same weight of gnocchi, tomato sauce and mozzarella. You can’t go wrong with Italian recipes, the more, the better.
Directions:
- Preheat your oven at 200°C / 400 F°
- Grease or line with parchment paper a baking dish.
- Put water to boil and cook the gnocchi as directed on the package.
- Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a sauté pan and a garlic clove on medium heat. Once the garlic is golden, pour in the strained tomatoes and let simmer 5/8 min. Turn off and the heat and add the basil leaves (keep a couple of leaves for later, to garnish the dish)
- Once the gnocchi are ready, drain them and transfer to the pan with the sauce. (I usually take off the garlic at this point). Toss them gently in the sauce for a couple of minutes.
- Pour the gnocchi in the baking pan, scooping the tomato sauce with them and alternate with mozzarella pieces. Finish with the Parmigiano Reggiano on top.
- Place the baking dish in the oven for few minutes at 200°C / 400 F° or under the broil until the cheese has melted, a nice golden crust has appeared and gnocchi are bubbling.
- Garnish with the basil leaves.
In the end, they are mostly potatoes, do they even count as pasta?
If you need more pasta in your life, make my delicious Orecchiette with Broccoli Rape. They are mostly vegetables, do they even count as pasta? 😉
