In Italy, gnocchi with tomato sauce is sometimes referred to as strangolapreti, which literally translates to priest stranglers. This comes from old folk stories about Italians that served gnocchi dishes to their local priests. According to legend, priests would devour the dumplings so quickly that they would occasionally choke on them. While we hope that no one is strangled by Trader Joe’s Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina, you’re definitely going to have to remind yourself to take breaks for breathing while you devour this meal.
Even though we cooked this meal on the stovetop, we found it surprisingly easy to prepare. Everything from the tomato sauce to the cheese to the gnocchi is in a single bag. All we had to do was cut the bag open and heat it up in a skillet. In just seven minutes, the dish was ready to serve.
The quality of this gnocchi is extremely high, especially when you consider the short prep time. The dumplings are soft, but not mushy, and they’re full of flavor. We’d be happy to eat them sans sauce.
That said, the tomato sauce is also very tasty. It’s a little different from a traditional tomato sauce in that it’s very simple, with minimal seasonings, and it uses some unusual ingredients like sunflower seed oil. The basic sauce lets the natural flavor of the gnocchi shine through.
There’s not a ton of cheese here, but the dish doesn’t really need it. It’s rich enough as is.
When we asked our staffers to compare this to Trader Joe’s Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Butter & Sage, they were split. Some reviewers preferred the creamy flavor of the sweet potato gnocchi, while other staffers thought that this was the superior meal. Although our staffers have their own preferences, they all agreed that both dishes are excellent. When it comes to gnocchi, Trader Joe’s really has your back.
While the nutritional label says that there are 3 servings of gnocchi in a bag, we wouldn’t recommend serving this to more than two people. The bag doesn’t give you a ton of gnocchi; one person could easily polish off an entire bag.
Small serving size aside, we’re very impressed with Trader Joe’s Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina. Gnocchi with tomato sauce has become a timeless classic for a reason.
To learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in this Trader Joe’s gnocchi, check out our package scans below.
