The recipe

2 servingsabout 45 minutes with ready-made gnocchi

Ingredients

  • 500 g fresh potato gnocchi suitable for cooking in water
  • 400 g passata
  • 125 g drained mozzarella
  • 20 g finely grated Parmesan
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 basil leaves
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C conventional heat. Drain and dice the mozzarella and grate the Parmesan. Wash and dry the basil. Peel and lightly crush the garlic.
  2. Warm the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Move the garlic around in it for about 30 seconds without browning. Add the passata and simmer gently for around 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then remove the garlic.
  3. Meanwhile, cook the gnocchi in salted water according to the packet and drain well. Gently mix with the warm sauce and 50 g mozzarella.
  4. Transfer to the baking dish and scatter over the remaining 75 g mozzarella and the Parmesan. Bake on the middle shelf for about 15–20 minutes, checking from 15 minutes until the centre is hot and the cheese has melted.
  5. Rest for five minutes, tear the basil over the top and serve.

Start with ready-made potato gnocchi

For two main-course servings, use 500 grams of fresh refrigerated potato gnocchi. Choose a product whose packet instructs you to cook it in water. Making your own potato dough is not included in the 45-minute timing. Drain the mozzarella and pat it dry if necessary; liquid from its packet would dilute the sauce.

A small baking dish measuring roughly 20 by 20 centimetres with sides at least four centimetres high suits this quantity. Add the mixture loosely. Two individual dishes are another option; they may heat through faster and should be checked earlier. Use only oven-safe dishes.

Keep the sauce moist and the bake brief

Reduce the passata only until it coats the gnocchi while still flowing from a spoon. Fold in the cooked potato dumplings gently to preserve their shape. Of the 125 grams of mozzarella, mix 50 grams through the gnocchi and scatter 75 grams on top. This leaves small pockets of cheese beneath the surface too.

Put the warm ingredients into the preheated oven. Check from 15 minutes: the sauce must be hot right through the centre and the cheese melted. If the top is browning before the middle is hot, cover with a suitable ovenproof lid and continue baking. Add the basil at the end. For a vegetarian version, choose a suitably labelled hard cheese.