Sorrentinos: The Pasta Born in Argentina

"My name is Gaby Zinola. I’m from Buenos Aires, Argentina. What do I do? I have a restaurant in La Boca with my parents. Don Carlos has been open for 50 years, since 1970, but for the moment it is closed because of the pandemic."

Today she's making sorrentinos, a round filled pasta, generally stuffed with a mixture of cheese and ham. 

"According to one story, the sorrentino has ties with Sorrento, on the Amalfi Coast. But in reality, there’s no evidence that it even exists in Italy, only that it shares the same name with the city."

"The legend says that sorrentinos originated in La Feliz, a seaside town in the Buenos Aires province, Mar del Plata. In 1930, a cook trying to be innovative decided to create sorrentinos, and put the name sorrentinos because he worked in a restaurant that was called Sorrento."

Gaby thinks that many people confused sorrentinos with ravioli, and believe that they are the same except are round in shape. But, in reality, ravioli are smaller in shape and eaten in one bite while sorrentinos are larger and more filling.

Gaby learned how to make this sorrentino recipe from her mother, Marta. Marta has been working and cooking at their family restaurant in La Boca since 1970. The mother and daughter team are the cooks behind the Italian and Spanish inspired dishes at Don Carlos, while Carlitos, Gaby’s father, watches over the barbecued meats on the grill. 

“Normally we eat sorrentinos at home," Gaby explains. "I remember my grandmother making it on Sundays." Gaby thinks that nowadays many people have lost the tradition of making their own homemade pasta dough. Instead, they will buy sorrentinos from a pasta shop.

Gaby prepared sorrentinos with mozzarella, ricotta, and ham. She says that the classic recipe doesn’t call for ricotta cheese, but she likes to add it along with parsley for flavor. Gaby makes the dough by combining flour with eggs and water. 

While the dough rests, she makes the filling: mozzarella cheese, ricotta, ham, salt, pepper, parsley and one egg yolk so it combines well together. 

Gaby uses a Pastalinda machine to roll the dough. Then, she uses her sorrentino cutter, a mold especially for sorrentinos. She places the dough in the sorrentino cutter, adds a little ball of filling, and covers the rest with the dough. She repeats this until she makes all of the sorrentinos. 

Gaby makes the sauce for the sorrentinos by sautéing garlic, cherry tomatoes, black olives, and basil. Then, she adds a can of tomatoes. Meanwhile, she heats up water and once it starts to boil, cooks the sorrentinos inside.

Gaby places the sorrentinos to the pan with the sauce. She adds shredded Parmesan cheese, drizzles with olive oil, and tops with fresh chopped basil. 

At Don Carlos, the sorrentinos tend to be less traditional. There, Gaby and Marta make green sorrentinos, adding spinach to the dough and stuffing with smoked eggplant and cheese.

Don Carlos restaurant has remained closed during the pandemic, but that doesn't mean Gaby stopped cooking. Today she made sorrentinos for her mom and dad. The verdict? Four thumbs up.

“Sorrentinos feel like family, a big hug,” Gaby says as she served the dish to her parents.