Gnocchi alla Sorrentina

Method

1. 1
   • potato 1 kg

   Boil the potatoes in their skins — Boil the potatoes whole and unpeeled in salted water for 35-40 minutes, until a knife slides in without resistance. Cooking them in their skins keeps them from taking on water, which is the difference between light gnocchi and heavy ones.

   ⏱38 min
2. 2
   • olive oil 3 tbsp
   • garlic 2
   • passata 700 g
   • white sugar 1 pinch
   • fresh basil 4 tbsp

   Simmer the tomato sauce — Meanwhile make the sauce. Warm the olive oil with the crushed garlic until it perfumes the oil, then lift the garlic out. Add the passata, sugar and a few basil leaves and simmer gently for 20 minutes until thick and darkened.

   ⏱20 min
3. 3
   • potato 1 kg

   Rice the potatoes while hot — Peel the potatoes while they are still too hot to hold comfortably and push them through a ricer onto a clean work surface. Spread the crumbs out and let the steam escape for 10 minutes so the mixture dries a little.

   ⏱10 min
4. 4
   • wheat flour 250 g
   • egg 1
   • salt 1 tsp
   • ground nutmeg 1 pinch

   Bring the dough together — Scatter over the flour, salt and nutmeg, add the beaten egg and bring everything together with your hands into a soft, barely tacky dough. Work it as briefly as you can — every extra minute of kneading develops gluten and makes the gnocchi chewy.

5. 5

   Shape and ridge the gnocchi — Cut the dough into pieces and roll each into a rope about 2 cm thick on a floured surface. Cut into 2 cm lengths and roll each one down the back of a fork to press in the ridges that hold the sauce. Keep them apart on a floured tray.

6. 6

   Boil and coat in sauce — Cook the gnocchi in batches in a large pan of well-salted boiling water. They are ready about 30 seconds after they bob to the surface. Lift them straight into the pan of sauce with a slotted spoon and turn them gently to coat.

   ⏱2 min
7. 7
   • fresh basil 4 tbsp
   • mozzarella 250 g
   • Parmesan 60 g
   • black pepper ½ tsp

   Bake under the cheeses — Tip everything into a baking dish, dot the mozzarella over the surface and cover with the Parmesan and black pepper. Bake at 220°C for 15 minutes, until the cheese blisters and browns in patches. Rest 5 minutes and finish with the remaining basil.

   ⏱15 min