Looking at a map, the Sorrentine peninsula juts into the Thyrrhenian sea as if it’s thumbing a ride. It provides the bottom curve of the Gulf of Naples and the top curve of the Gulf of Salerno, while its tip is a few miles from the island of Capri. The bone of the thumb is the rising and remarkable Lattari mountain range, while towns punctuate the coast, which dips steeply towards the sea. One of those towns is Sorrento, known by the Romans as Surrentum (but a village long before). Now it is a land of lemons; before, though, it was a land of wine and and, myth-wise, where sirens (beautiful or monstrous, depending on whom you ask) used bewitching songs (rather than thumbs) to lure unwary mariners.
There are other alluring reasons, too, and confidence around food; there are a good number of dishes alla Sorrentina – Sorrento-style. Saltimbocca (veal, prosciutto and sage), merluzzo (cod), pollo (chicken), paccheri (large tubes of pasta), lasagne, calamaretti (little calamari) and gnocchi are all cooked alla Sorrentina, which means different things for different recipes.
That said, tomatoes and mozzarella (or fior di latte) are usually involved, especially when it comes to pasta and gnocchi alla Sorrentina. I take my lead from Rita and Mariano Pane and the recipe in their book I Sapori del Sud. It is important that you let the mozzarella drain for at least three hours before you use it, so some of the excess liquid drains away. Tinned tomatoes can be substituted with fresh, or you could use a mix, and/or a squeeze of concentrate, to make the sauce as tasty as possible. If you enjoy making potato gnocchi, do. And if you do, I recommend adding an egg to the mix, because it reinforces the dough, making it easier to work with as well as to cook, so reducing the risk of the dissolving gnoccho. If you prefer to buy gnocchi, that is also ideal.
Sometimes, this dish is called gnocchi filanti alla Sorrentina. Filanti means “stringy”, referring to the way the mozzarella melts into long strings and pulls into a game of cat’s cradle as you eat – an alluring reminder to eat it while the gnocchi is still hot.
Gnocchi alla Sorrentina – gnocchi with tomato, mozzarella and basil
Serves 4
For the gnocchi (or buy in 800g)
800g potatoes
250g plain flour
1 egg
For the sauce
6 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 small red chilli, left whole
2 x 400g tins peeled whole plum tomatoes
Salt
1 handful basil leaves
350g mozzarella, drained and cut into cubes
50g grated parmesan
To make the gnocchi, boil 800g scrubbed but unpeeled potatoes until tender. Once cool enough to peel, press through a ricer or mash with a fork, add 250g plain flour and an egg, and work until you have a consistent dough – it will be slightly sticky, so work with floured hands. On a floured surface, divide the dough into four, then roll each piece into a rope and cut it into 2½cm-sized lozenges; if you wish, roll each gnoccho over a fork to indent and give it ridges. Set aside on a floured cloth. Alternatively, ready-made gnocchi are great.
In a frying pan, gently warm the olive oil, garlic and chilli until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, salt and basil, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon. The sauce is ready when it is thick and has an oily halo – taste for salt, and pull out and discard the chilli or chop it finely and return to the sauce for more heat.
Put a little sauce in the base of an oval, shallow ovenproof dish. Bring a large pan of water to a boil, add salt and, when the water comes back to a boil, add the gnocchi. They are ready when they rise to the surface. Lift out with a slotted spoon, wait 10 seconds for the excess water to run off, then tip into the dish.
Add the rest of the tomato sauce, the basil and half each of the mozzarella and parmesan, then toss everything together gently, to coat. Press the rest of the mozzarella into the top, scatter over the remaining parmesan and bake at 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 for five minutes, or until the mozzarella has melted into little pools and the edges are bubbling. Serve hot.
UK readers: click to buy these ingredients from Ocado
