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Spicy sausage baked gnocchi in a creamy tomato sauce with lots of melted mozzarella, garlic and fresh basil. This recipe is so easy to put together and is so comforting and delicious. The perfect dish when you’re craving some comfort food!
This is the perfect dish to make when you’re craving something cosy and comforting but also quick and easy.
This is our slightly more indulgent take on Gnocchi alla Sorrentina using spicy Italian sausages (or use regular if you don’t like spice) in a rich, creamy garlic tomato sauce.
Just like Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, there’s lots of fresh mozzarella involved. One ball of mozzarella is mixed into the sauce and the other is for topping the gnocchi which melts and gets bubbling and golden in the oven.
Serve it with some crusty bread to mop up all that yummy sauce and a glass of vino rosso, Buon Appetitio!
Ingredients
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Pin ItIngredient notes and substitutions
- Spicy Italian sausages – we use Calabrian sausages made with Calabrian chilli paste but use whatever spicy/hot Italian sausage that is available to you.
- Passata – known as tomato puree in the US. We love to use Mutti as it’s really good quality and reasonably priced. Go with a brand you know and trust.
- Garlic – We always recommend using a fresh garlic clove if you can instead of using garlic powder. You can add more garlic if you prefer.
- Mozzarella – the quality of the mozzarella is quite important here as it’s mixed through the sauce and you don’t want that ‘gummy’ texture that low-quality mozzarella has. We like to use buffalo mozzarella which has a creamier/wetter consistency which means it may need to be baked for a few minutes longer.
Step by step photos and instructions
This is a visual guide to help you with each step. For the full written recipe, ingredient amounts and tips scroll to the recipe card below.
- Prep – Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well. Pre-heat your oven to 200C (400F).
- Brown the sausage – remove the sausages from their casings and brown them in for a few minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant (photos 1 and 2).
- Add tomato and cream – add the passata (tomato puree US) and the cream and stir to combine. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and simmer for about 8 minutes (photos 3 and 4).
- Add gnocchi – add the gnocchi to the boiling, salted water and cook until they float to the surface.
- Add to sauce – add some torn basil leaves to the sauce then add the cooked gnocchi. Stir in the the mozzarella (chopped) then top with the remaining mozzarella torn into chunks (photos 5-7).
- Bake – bake the gnocchi in the oven for 15-20 minutes until bubbling and golden then serve (photo 8).
More delicious gnocchi recipes to try
Gnocchi
Gnocchi alla Sorrentina
Gnocchi
Gnocchi Carbonara
Gnocchi
Easy Pesto Gnocchi
Sauces & Dressings
Walnut Sauce – Salsa di Noci
If you’ve tried this Spicy sausage baked gnocchi recipe or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest or sign up to our Newsletter to see more of our delicious food
Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Spicy Sausage Baked Gnocchi
Ingredients
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well. Pre-heat the oven to 200C (400F)
- Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan on a medium heat. Remove the sausages from their casings and add them to the pan.
- Brown the sausages while breaking them up into crumbs with the side of a wooden spoon.
- Once browned, add the garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
- Next, add the passata and stir in the cream with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Let the sauce simmer gently for around 8 minutes then add the gnocchi to the salted, boiling water and cook until they float to the surface.
- Add a handful of fresh basil to the sauce then add the gnocchi and toss them in the sauce. Turn off the heat then add half of the mozzarella (1 ball) chopped into medium sized pieces and stir it into the sauce.
- Tear the remaining half of mozzarella (1 ball) into chunks and scatter it over the top of the gnocchi. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until bubbling and golden. Serve.
Notes
- Prep in advance – make the sauce but don’t add the mozzarella. When ready to bake, cook the gnocchi and reheat the sauce. Add the mozzarella, gnocchi and remaining mozzarella then bake.
- Storage – leftovers will keep well in the fridge for 1-2 days and can be reheated in the oven uncovered for 10-15 minutes until piping hot.
- Variations – if you don’t like spice you can use regular Italian sausages. Instead of mozzarella why not try smoked scamorza for a smokey flavour. You can also use a short pasta shape instead of gnocchi.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
That was so good nice n spicy I had to use pork sausage meat and and the herbs n spices to it
Wonderful receipe so delicious! One comment, passata is not the same as tomato purée which is much more concentrated and sold in small volumes in a tube. Passata is a sieved finely chopped tomato sauce and comes in can or jars in supermarket or deli store. Happy cooking! Xx
Ciao Olga, thanks so much, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. It seems to depend where you are in the world which gets a bit confusing. Passata in Italy and the UK tends to be called tomato puree in the US and tomato paste/concentrate in the US is called tomato puree in the UK…confusing lol.
Amazing recipe!
Thank you! So happy you enjoyed it 🙂