The hitchhiker's guide to the Italian Cuisine · Gnocchi alla Sorrentina
Every Country in the world has its own strong points. Italy is known worldwide for art and cuisine. As I am Italian, I thought it could be nice to add a new section in the Cloudsfactory blog to offer you some Italian cuisine recipes.
This is a typical south Italy's dish, and I've learnt this recipe when I moved to south to live with my love (and my actual hubby). It is really simple, quite quick and absolutely delicious!
Gnocchi alla Sorrentina
Potato gnocchi are pretty filling, the kind of food you may associate with the cooler weather. But, in fact, you can enjoy gnocchi all year ’round. One of the classic Campanian summer dishes is "Gnocchi alla Sorrentina", (literally potato gnocchi in the manner of Sorrento), a delicious dish made of gnocchi, tomato sauce, mozzarella or scamorza cheese, fresh basil and Parmigiano cheese and baked in a terrine in a hot oven until bubbly and oozing with cheesy goodness.
Potato gnocchi are pretty filling, the kind of food you may associate with the cooler weather. But, in fact, you can enjoy gnocchi all year ’round. One of the classic Campanian summer dishes is "Gnocchi alla Sorrentina", (literally potato gnocchi in the manner of Sorrento), a delicious dish made of gnocchi, tomato sauce, mozzarella or scamorza cheese, fresh basil and Parmigiano cheese and baked in a terrine in a hot oven until bubbly and oozing with cheesy goodness.
Ingredients (for 2 people):
- 250g (1/2 lb) potato gnocchi
- one batch of tomato sauce, preferably Italian
- one large mozzarella or scamorza (250g or 8-9oz), drained and cut into small cubes
- grated Parmigiano cheese
- a garlic clove
- olive oil, salt, basil leaves
Directions:
- Peel the garlic clove and fry it lightly in some olive oil. When it is just starting to lightly brown, add the tomato sauce, some basil leaves, and let it simmer slowly for about 15 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken. Add salt.
- If your gnocchi are homemade or fresh, you don't need to cook them. Otherwise, cook them several minutes in plenty boiling salted water.
- Grab your terrine and make a thin layer of tomato sauce at the bottom (just about a spoon). Now lay a layer of gnocchi, then add some tomato sauce and some scamorza cubes on top. Then another layer of gnocchi, tomato and scamorza cubes. Usually I make 2 or 3 layers.
- Top with a good sprinkling of grated Parmigiano cheese
- Bake in a hot (200C/390F) oven just until the scamorza has melted and the gnocchi are bubbling hot (usually 20/25 mins).
Buon appetito!
