Enjoy the flavours of Campania back home
Named in honour of the beautiful resort of Sorrento, this tasty primo
piatto (first course) on many restaurant menus is also easy to make at
home.
The sauce for the gnocchi is created from a wonderful blend of three of
Campania’s most celebrated ingredients, flavoursome, red tomatoes, piquant
green, basil leaves and creamy mozzarella cheese. When the cheese melts into
the tomato sauce covering the gnocchi, it binds everything together to create a
satisfying, but simple dish.
Tasty Gnocchi served Sorrento style |
The gnocchi di patate (potato dumplings) can either be home made,
following the recipe given below, or bought fresh or vacuum packed from a
supermarket.
Gnocchi di patate were supposedly introduced into the Italian culinary
repertoire after the Treaty of Campoformio was signed by France and Austria in
1797 at Campoformido, a village to the west of Udine in Friuli.
Venice was
thereafter given over to Austrian rule and, along with the gnocchi di patate, Austrian beer and sausages were also added to the Italian menu at this time.
In Sorrento, you can try Gnocchi alla Sorrentina in the heart of the
historic centre at Ristorante Il Pozzo in Via Tasso, where they are finished
off by being baked in a wood fired oven.
Or, you can enjoy a sea view while you sample them down at Marina Grande
at Trattoria da Emilia, a restaurant that was established by Donna Emilia in
1954. They are on the menu as Gnocchi della Mamma and are cooked to Donna
Emilia’s original, traditional Sorrento recipe. They taste delicious when
enjoyed while sitting at a table on Da Emilia’s wooden deck, suspended over the sea with the
waves lapping against it.
But when you return from Sorrento to colder weather back home, piping
hot Gnocchi alla Sorrentina are wholesome, comforting and a wonderful reminder
of your holiday.
Recipe for two people:
To make the sauce, fry two chopped cloves of garlic in olive oil and add
500g of peeled, deseeded and chopped tomatoes, or the contents of a 400g can of
tomatoes put through a sieve. (If using fresh tomatoes, sieve the mixture after
cooking.} Add a pinch of dried oregano, a few fresh basil leaves torn into
shreds and season to taste. When the sauce is smooth and reduced, set aside.
To cook the gnocchi, add as many as you require, (about a dozen per person for a first course) to boiling salted water
and they will be cooked when they rise to the surface.
Divide the cooked gnocchi between two, warmed oven proof dishes. Reheat
the tomato sauce, adding a drop of olive oil or water if required, and pour
over the gnocchi. Cut a mozzarella cheese into cubes and share the cubes
between the two dishes and add a good grating of Parmesan cheese to each dish.
Finish off in a hot oven for 10 – 15 minutes until the cheese forms a golden
crust. Serve immediately, garnished with fresh basil.
To make your own gnocchi, boil 500g of white potatoes in their skins,
then peel and mash them. Mix in 200g flour and one egg yolk into the mash.
Knead together to make a ball of dough. Take small balls, one at a time and work them with
your hands into sausage shapes and cut into two cm pieces. Roll them in flour
and press against a fork to give them grooves, which will help the sauce to
cling to them.
Buon appetito!