Gnocci alla Sorrentina

Serving Size: 4-6

Cook Time: Some serious time, a couple hours

Any Special Tools Needed?: a potato ricer. We tried to do without (since they cost $30+) but it was really hard to get the potato super smooth with a masher.

Gnocchi Ingredients:

3-4 Russett potatoes

About 1 1/3 cups of flour

1 Tablespoon of kosher salt

1 egg

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Sauce Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon olive oil 

3 garlic cloves, peeled and halved 

3 lbs fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped (can also use two 28 ounce canned and peeled tomatoes) 

2 teaspoons salt

4 basil leaves

Extras (a must):

Fresh mini motz balls

Fresh grated Parmigiano cheese

Gnocchi Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350
• Bake the potatoes whole and in their skin for 70 mins
• As soon as the potatoes come out of the oven, halve them, scoop out the center, and put through a food ricer.

• Spread the riced potatoes in a single layer onto a working surface and let cool completely, about 25 minutes. 

• Once the potatoes have cooled, sprinkle 1 cup of the flour and the salt over the potatoes. 

• Gather the mixture together to form a well. Add the egg into the middle of the well, and lightly knead the mixture together just until all ingredients are combined and it forms a ball. (This should take no more than 2-3 minutes.)

• Divide the dough into six pieces.
• Roll each piece out into a rope about 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Give each piece a quick roll into a ball. 
• Create ridges in the gnocchi by rolling them onto a fork (If you have a wooden “gnocchi board,” use this instead.) 
• Cook them right away or freeze them. (If you’re freezing them, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet into the freezer. Once they are individually frozen, you can place them together or on top of each other in a bag or container.) 

Sauce Steps:

• Over medium heat, heat the olive oil and gently sweat the garlic in a saucepot, 3-4 minutes. 
• Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar and increase the heat to medium-high. 
• Bring the mixture to a boil and cook off the liquid for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn’t scorch. 
• Place the tomatoes in a colander to drain, reserving the tomato liquid. Run the tomatoes through a food mill. (The larger the holes in the disk, the chunkier your sauce will be.) If you prefer a sauce with a fine texture, you can process the tomatoes in a food processor. 
• Return the sauce to the pot, add the basil leaves, and cook on medium-low heat for 30 minutes, until it reaches the desired consistency. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the reserved tomato juice to it. Remove the garlic and basil before using.

Throw it all together:

• Bring about 8 cups of well-salted water to a boil. 
• Heat the tomato sauce. 
• Place the gnocchi in the boiling water a few at a time. (You want to always keep the water at a boiling temperature.) 
• In a sauté pan, heat 1 cup of the tomato sauce. 
• As soon as the gnocchi rise to the top of the water, drain off the water and place them into the sauté pan with the tomato sauce. Mix together. 
• The gnocchi should be only lightly coated with tomato sauce. Place half the gnocchi in a shallow ovenproof casserole dish. Top with mozzarella cheese.
• Sprinkle with the Parmigiano cheese. 
• Place under a broiler until the mozzarella is melted and slightly golden, about 7 minutes. 

Commentary from the Cook:
We did this for a date night and it was great because it was relaxing since the gnocchi process is tedious so we were able to listen to some tunes, drink some wine and have a lot of fun doing it. We made the sauce first and set aside, then quickly heated it along side the gnocchi when they were ready to boil. To make for less mess, do the sauce in an oven-safe pan so cut down on the dishes. They came out amazing, we froze half and ate half. I'll let you know how the frozen batch tastes.

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