Happiness is... Gnocchi alla Sorrentina (Potato Gnocchi with Buffalo Mozzarella)

I just finished watching a show on Italian TV, all about Cilento. This is the wonderful area where we have a house, perched on the top of a mountain, overlooking the Gulf of Salerno and the Island of Capri and not too far from the Amalfi Coast.

We so love our place. We so love the blue of the deep sea, the sunsets, the lights at night and the world waking up at five in the morning. Being there is a kind of spiritual experience, as, from our terrace you really feel like you're on top of the world. With every sunset you get a taste of eternity, feel in touch with something deeply magical which permeates the atmosphere.

We spend hours watching clouds, the sun changing colour. It's like an immense palette. We make up stories... we see "things": battles, horses, camels chasing each other... Are they really clouds? Are we watching nature, or is nature watching us, while we try to make sense of so much beauty?

 

Through the atmoshere, the smell of wild fennel, fig leaves, seaweed and basil, growing by our door and voices...

Food in Cilento is not for the faint hearted: strong flavours (lots of garlic and basil) chunky, sometimes really heavy homemade fusilli, game (rabbit, wild boar) cooked with garlic, tomatoes, capers and olives, and cheese... lots of cheese. Do not expect Camembert or Brie, as you won't get any in the shops: "No need for foreign stuff" they say and I agree. Not as many vegetables as we eat in Puglia, or fish, but a diet made for people who were born and live in little towns perched on mountain sides... good, substantial food, somehow different from the food of my native Puglia. Not as green, but delicious, in a different way!

I have come to love and respect the flavours of Cilento. They go with the landscape and with the people... Strong and stubborn, they  always think they know better and they know everything!
  

 Cilento is a very beautiful part of the Campania region.  I learnt how to cook my husband's favourite  cilentani dishes ( I make a truly mean Fagioli e Scarole and I even learnt how to cook rabbit and have become a massive fan of scialatielli, a local pasta good with my mixed seafood sauce!)

Yesterday, I made a dish which contained all the flavours and aromas of Summer and Cilento: Gnocchi alla Sorrentina. I used mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) as it is produced in Cilento and virtually the only type of mozzarella sold there. It's more acidy than the other kind, made from cow's milk and at its best eaten raw, in salad (Insalata Caprese) or just as it comes!

If you ever visit the area, you must go to "Tenuta Vannulo" in Capaccio (not too far from Paestum and Pompeii) I love it there.

Tenuta Vannulo- buffalo farm
click on link to visit Tenuta Vannulo

 The buffalos are so happy and friendly they come to say hello, if you talk to them!

Here is my delicious recipe. I even made my own gnocchi!

Gnocchi di Patate alla Sorrentina

( Sorrento Style Potato Gnocchi with

buffalo mozzarella)

Ingredients:

( 4 servings or

3 very generous ones!)

For the gnocchi:

400 g  (14 oz) potatoes

250 g  (9 oz) plain-all purpose flour

1 small egg

some salt

For the sauce:

1X 500g (about 1 pint) carton passata

2 garlic cloves

4 tbasp olive oil

generous handful fresh basil

salt, black pepper

You will also need:

Pecorino or Parmigiano

200g ( 7 oz) rucola (rocket)

This is how I made my beautiful gnocchi ( Fact: "Did you know that a good looking man in Italy is called a "gnocco?" and a beautiful woman is a "gnocca?" )

I placed my unpeeled potatoes  in a pan of water and cooked until soft. Next, I peeled  and mashed my potatoes and, when still warm, I placed them onto a floured surface, made a well in the middle and gradually added my egg and flour, till I got a soft dough. I covered and left to rest for ten minutes. ( If your dough is too "wet" when you make gnocchi you can add more flour.)

 

 Next, I took a piece of the dough (the size of a tennis ball) and, using both  hands, I rolled it, till I get a long thin dough "snake." Using a knife, I cut this into small rectangular, rounded shapes (this is your basic plain gnocchi.)

 

I decided my gnocchi would be a bit like a kind of cavatelli, so I took each one and, using a small nutmeg grater (You can also use the back of a fork) and two fingers, I pressed each gnocco down, to obtain the shape I wanted (see photos.) You don't have to do this, though! But they look lovely!

Having made my gnocchi, I left it on the board and made a simple tomato sauce, by heating the oil until really piping hot and then adding the garlic and when this was golden. I added my passata (make your own sauces. Don't buy the stuff in jars... it's sickly, not Italian and really bad for you!)  and cooked my sauce for about twenty minutes. A handful of fresh basil made my sauce smell really Mediterranean.

By this time the water I had previously placed in a pan was boiling, ( You didn't know I had done this, did you? I did it while you weren't watching!) so I added my gnocchi and waited for each one of them to float to the surface (that means they are done!) I drained them and got ready to serve.

As I come from Puglia, I always want something green with my food, so, I made a base of uncooked rucola (rocket) and other leaves on each plate,  then placed my gnocchi over it (I made portions, for a change!)  with some tomato and basil sauce, grated cheese and some mozzarella di bufala, cut into small cubes! The pungency and crunchiness of the uncooked rocket made this dish a delight! This is not in the original recipe, but I think it adds extra depth to it.

Gnocchi is so easy and quick to make! A sprinkling of Pecorino or Parmesan is a must, at this point! Keep on reading... there's MORE!

If you prefer a different version, you can substitute the tomato sauce with a very simple sauce made with blue cheese ( it could be Gorgonzola or Gorgogonzola -Mascarpone) melted in three or four tablespoons of milk ( you do this over the heat, in a small pan)

 This you can pour over your drained gnocchi, mix , then add Pecorino or Parmesan and black pepper (I have just discovered the beauty and flavour of pink peppercorns!) Again, I had rucola with this and a small handful of diced aubergine fried in oil and garlic (but you don't have to!)

Gnocchi al formaggio

For the sauce:

250g ( 9 oz) Italian Blue Cheese

(I used Castello, but you can use a different one!)

3-4 tabsp milk

Black Pepper

Rucola- rocket as much as you like

Some diced and fried in hot oil and garlic aubergine

(Extremely optional-don't make hard work for yourselves!)

When I made my cheese gnocchi I also added rocket, as its pungency goes well with blue cheese. I can't believe how easy and delicious home made gnocchi is!

PS: Please note my beautiful pink peppercorns!