Gnocchi alla Sorrentina are a traditional dish from Campania made with potato gnocchi, tomato sauce, fior di latte, Parmesan and basil. A brief spell in the oven melts the cheese while keeping the gnocchi soft and creamy.
Cut 300 g fior di latte into slices or pieces and place it in a strainer. Leave it to drain well while you prepare the rest of the recipe. If it is particularly moist, gently pat it dry with kitchen paper.
Heat 35 g extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan with 1 garlic clove. Let it flavor the oil without allowing it to brown, then add 700 g tomato passata, 6–8 basil leaves and salt to taste.
Cook over low heat until the sauce has thickened, stirring occasionally. It should still be soft and saucy, but not watery. Remove the garlic.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook 1 kg potato gnocchi. If your pot is not large enough, cook them in two or three batches so the water temperature does not drop too much.
As soon as the gnocchi rise to the surface, lift them out with a slotted spoon and let them drain for a few moments.
Spread a little tomato sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. Add some of the gnocchi and spoon over more sauce and some of the 100 g grated Parmesan.
Add the remaining gnocchi, then distribute the well-drained fior di latte, more tomato sauce and the remaining Parmesan over the top. Finish with a few basil leaves.
Bake in a preheated conventional oven at 240°C / 465°F for a few minutes, until the fior di latte has melted.
Do not aim for a deeply browned crust. The gnocchi only need a brief spell in the oven so they remain soft and the tomato sauce does not dry out.
Remove the Gnocchi alla Sorrentina from the oven as soon as the fior di latte has melted and bring them straight to the table while still hot and creamy.
Servings 4
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
The fior di latte needs to be well drained before it goes into the baking dish. If yours is particularly fresh and contains plenty of whey, cut it ahead of time and leave it in a strainer in the refrigerator. This prevents excess liquid from collecting in the dish during baking.
The tomato sauce should be fairly thick. Do not reduce it until dry, as it will thicken a little more in the oven, but there should not be excess liquid collecting at the bottom of the baking dish.
Gnocchi need very little cooking. Remove them as soon as they rise to the surface and do not leave them boiling unnecessarily, particularly if you are using homemade gnocchi.
The final spell in the oven is mainly there to melt the fior di latte and bring everything together, rather than create a pronounced crust. This is why we use a very hot oven for just a few minutes.
Gnocchi alla Sorrentina are best served freshly made. If you have leftovers, keep them covered in the refrigerator and eat them within 1–2 days, reheating them in the oven.
There is little mystery about the place: the name Gnocchi alla Sorrentina takes us straight to Sorrento and its peninsula overlooking the Bay of Naples. When it comes to exactly how the dish was born, things become a little less clear.
One of the stories most often told takes us to an old tavern in Piazza Tasso, in the heart of Sorrento. According to the tale, a cook combined gnocchi with tomato, fior di latte and cheese before finishing everything in the oven. It is a lovely story that appears in many accounts of the dish's origins, although there is no documentation that tells us how much of it is actually true.
After all, we know much more about what ended up in those baking dishes than what happened before them.
Gnocchi alla Sorrentina also appear in the Campania recipe collection of the Italian Academy of Cuisine. And the recipe contains few surprises: fior di latte, Parmesan and basil are all there.
Perhaps that is the most interesting part. Despite the many versions made today, the dish is still recognizable through a small number of ingredients and a name that, after all this time, continues to bring it back to Sorrento.