Ricotta Gnocchi alla Sorrentina
POV it’s Sunday and you want to make a gorgeous Sunday sauce and fresh pasta, but you don’t want the time commitment. Enter ricotta gnocchi alla Sorrentina – the fastest from-scratch pasta you could probably make. Fluffy pillows of ricotta gnocchi are paired with a classic Sorrentina sauce – a rich tomato sauce from the Campania region that combines the Italian holy-trinity: tomato, basil and mozzarella.
Ricotta Gnocchi alla Sorrentina
Ricotta gnocchi alla Sorrentina - a quick and easy from-scratch pasta dish that’s perfect for your next Sunday sauce!
Ingredients
Ricotta Gnocchi
- 500 g traditional ricotta drained for 30 min to remove extra moisture
- 2 egg yolks
- 50 g Parmigiano Reggiano finely grated
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 200 g tipo 00 flour plus extra for dusting
Alla Sorrentina sauce
- EVOO
- 2 garlic cloves whole but crushed slightly
- 1 large jar passata 700ml
- Handful of basil
- 250 g mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Ricotta Gnocchi
- In a large bowl combine the drained ricotta, egg yolks, salt and Parmigiano cheese and use a fork to combine.
- Tip the ricotta mixture onto your work surface and spread out using a bench scraper.
- Sprinkle over the flour and using a bench scraper and a cutting motion, incorporate the flour into the ricotta until just combined.
- Use your hands and a little extra flour if it feels necessary, to bring the dough together until it’s in one large ball.
- Divide the ball into several pieces.
- Roll each piece out into a rope 2-3cm in thickness.
- Dust well then cut 2-3cm pieces in each rope to form your gnocchi.
- Dust with flour and set aside on a baking tray dusted with flour until ready to use.
Alla Sorrentina Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the garlic cloves until fragrant, then pour in the passata.
- Fill the passata bottle half way with water to rinse it out and add this to the pan, then simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove the garlic cloves and season to taste with salt.
- Add the cooked gnocchi then remove from the heat.
- Stir through roughly 200g mozzarella and fresh basil leaves.
- Top the skillet with the remaining mozzarella and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and bubbling.
