Italian recipes from the Sorrento Coast: from gnocchi alla sorrentina to limoncello
GNOCCHI ALLA SORRENTINA
Gnocchi alla sorrentina' is the most typical dish of Sorrento. Below the ingredients and the recipe:
Gnocchi made of potatoes, Tomato sauce made with San Marzano or red smallcherry tomatoes, small cubes of mozzarella cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, onion, fresh basi, extra virgin olive oil (Sorrento oil is to be recommended).
Put the tomatoes in a pan and add finely chopped onion. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and sal. Mix frequently and let everything cook for almost thirty minutes. The sauce is ready. Add some basil leaves.
Boil the gnocchi in salted hot water for a couple minutes (they are ready when they come afloat), drain them. Place the gnocchi mixed with the tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese in a oven-proof pan, cover them with the mozzarella cubes and more tomato sauce, Parmesan cheese. When ready add two fresh leaves of basil. Bake it at very high temperature (240 C/ 460 F) until all the cheese is melt. Serve them hot in a pasta plate.
SPAGHETTI ALLA SORRENTINA
Put 500 gr of spaghetti already cooked ‘al dente’ in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil, already heaten.
Add some lemon juice (preferably of the Sorrento Coast) and then add the pulp of 300 gr of tomatoes from Sorrento.
Add some pepper and salt and serve with some fresh chopped parsley.
SPAGHETTI WITH WALNUTS
Cook spaghetti ‘al dente’ and simultaneously pour some extra virgin olive oil in a pan, with a piece of garlic. When the garlic browns, replace it with an anchovy and then add the walnuts, preferably from Sorrento.
Let everything cook for some minutes. When spaghetti are ready, put them in the pan containing the sauce and let them sauté for some seconds. When ready add some fresh chopped parsley.
SALTIMBOCCA ALLA SORRENTINA
First, flatten out the veal, removing any sinew or skin. Heat some olive oil in a skillet and lightly fry the veal slices on both sides, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Heat some olive oil in a pan. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, parsley and cook quickly for about 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes are reduced to a pulp. Take the veal slices and on each one place a slice of cooked ham and one of mozzarella.
Arrange the veal slices in a single layer in a baking dish. Spread two or three tablespoons of tomato sauce on each veal slice. Add Parmesan cheese and, if you prefer, some white wine.
Bake in a 250 degree oven until the cheese has melted.
FILLED CUTTLEFISH SORRENTO STYLE
Small cuttlefish filled with a blend made of eggs, a lot of Parmesan cheese, mozzarella or 'fior di latte' cheese, raisings, salt and pepper.
Cuttlefish are cooked in extra virgin olive oil (preferably from Sorrento), with garlic, red peppe, and tomatoes.
Then they are served with some chopped parsley.
'FOLLOVIELLO' - an ancient Christmas sweet
the 'folloviello' are baked rolls of lemon leaves or citron leaves filled with raisins previously boiled in some wine, and with candied citrus peels.
This is a typical Christmas sweet, already eaten during Roman times, that made it using leaves of fig or vine.
Gabriele D’Annunzio did love these sweets very much.
LIMONCELLO - LEMON LIQUEUR
A typical liqueur made with alcohol, lemon peels (the oval lemons from Sorrento, preferably), sugar and water.
NOCILLO - WALNUT LIQUEUR
A typical liqueur made with alcohol, walnuts still covered by green husk, coffee beans, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar and water.
SOSPIRI CAKES
‘'Sospiri’ are typical cakes of SorrentoCoast, they are very similar tothe famous 'Delizia al limone'.
These cakes are made with angel cake and lemon cream.
