Directions
Gnocchi au gratin with tomato and mozzarella is classic comfort food, a simple, almost elementary dish that knows how to bring joy to the everyday table.
It won’t take long to make this recipe, but if you are tired of the usual Sorrentine gnocchi (with tomato sauce and mozzarella), with this delicious recipe, you will be able to bring a breath of fresh air without any effort. Or, if you want to see it from another point of view, it’s an excuse to turn a dish.
As one piece of advice, we tell you, again, experiment! The recipe includes mozzarella because it is the most common and easy-to-find cheese among the racy ones that melt beautifully, provolone, smoked scamorza, buffalo mozzarella, or even Fontina or Puzzone di Moena. It always depends on the degree of intensity you want to give to the dish.
Ok, ready for a new journey into the world of gnocchi?
Ingredients for making baked au gratin gnocchi with tomato and mozzarella
8 servings
- 1 kg of potatoes
- 350 grams of flour
- 2 eggs
- 30 grams of butter
- 10 grams of salt and pepper
For the dressing
- 500 ml of tomato puree, just good stuff, or 10 San Marzano tomatoes
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 500 grams of mozzarella
- 80 grams of Parmigiano Reggiano
- 10 grams of salt
- 35 grams of extra virgin olive oil
- 50 grams of fresh basil
How to prepare baked potato gnocchi with tomato and mozzarella
Let’s start with the sauce: let’s start with the tomatoes.
Wash them and cut them with a cross-cut, throw them in boiling water for 15 seconds, then let them cool in ice.
Peel, cut, remove the seeds, then collect all the juice that has drained away.
Mash the garlic and stew it in 8 tablespoons of oil without burning.
Throw in the tomato and cook over low heat for 25-30 minutes. Ten minutes from the end of cooking, throw in the basil.
Ok, boil the potatoes for 30 minutes, let them cool, and then peel them.
Mash them with a potato masher or a fork
Put the flour on a pastry board, make the fountain and a hole in the middle, put the potatoes, season with 2 pinches of salt and pepper, and butter.
Knead well until you have a firm and non-sticky dough. At most, add a pinch of flour.
Shape the potato dough into rolls of about 1.5 cm in diameter, then cut them at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other to form the gnocchi.
Let the gnocchi rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a very large pan, greasing it with oil.
Cut the cheese into slices and then into cubes. Keep a few pieces for decoration.
Cook the gnocchi only half the time, then only 3 minutes, then drain and dip them in the pan with the sauce and season.
The final phase, hold on, now we are!
Pour the gnocchi into the pan, add the diced cheese, stir, and finish with a few slices of cheese.
Bake the gnocchi at a temperature of 180 for 5 minutes, then take them out of the oven, chop a few basil leaves on top and serve. If sometimes, you can add a sprinkling of Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, but they are already tasty enough!
Which wine to pair with the gnocchi gratin with mozzarella and tomato sauce?
You need acidity and finesse to get along with the tomato, so let’s uncork a great Sicilian wine such as Arianna Occhipinti’s Frappato, endowed with rare elegance, a slender body, excellent to accompany the dish. If you want to combine sparkling wine, Prosecco, Champagne, or Franciacorta are excellent alternatives.
If you want to combine a cocktail, choose the robust structure of the Negroni cocktail.
