Sohla is joined by Carla Lalli Music to recreate the earliest known recipe for the cutest Italian pasta there is - gnocchi! This recipe is from Bartolomeo Scappi, one of the first celebrity chefs in history, and contains no potatoes, which did not arrive in Italy until 1570. Buon appetito!

Watch more of Carla Lalli Music at:
   / @carlalallimusic123  

THE RECIPES

For the Gnocchi:
- 1 pound stale white bread
- 2 pounds flour, plus more for forming
- 4 large egg yolks
- kosher salt
- provatura cheese
- ground cinnamon
- sugar
- salted European-style butter

1. In a large bowl, finely grate the stale bread. Add the flour and stir to combine.
2. Make a well, and stir in enough water to just come together into a dough. Add the egg yolks and knead into a dough.
3. Roll the dough out into a long snake. Cut off pieces about 1 inch long. Form the gnocchi on a board, fork or cheese grater by pressing the dough into the surface using your thumb and rolling down so the dough curls over onto itself.
4. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Gently drop in gnocchi. Remove gnocchi when they float to the top.
5. Finish cooked gnocchi with cheese, cinnamon, sugar, and cubes of butter.

For Carla’s Spicy Tomato Sauce:
- 3 large beefsteak tomatoes (about 2 pounds)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt; freshly ground pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, plus more for serving
- Handful basil leaves, torn, plus small sprigs, for serving
- Prepared gnocchi

1. Cut a thin slice off the base of each tomato. Hold tomato at stem end and use large holes of a box grater to grate flesh and pulp into a large bowl. The skin should unfurl as you go, until you’re left with just the stem and shredded skin in your hand (which you can discard). Some skin might pass through the grater, and that’s fine.
2. In a large skillet, combine olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally until garlic is translucent and very fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Add grated tomato and season with salt and pepper. Simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
3. Add basil, stir to combine, then remove from heat.
4. After boiling gnocchi, add to skillet with tomato sauce and place over medium heat. Cook, gently spooning sauce over gnocchi, until sauce is hot and everything is combined.
5. Serve gnocchi and tomato sauce with some pepper flakes sprinkled over, topped with a few basil sprigs.

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Ancient Recipes with Sohla takes the food you know and love and traces it back to its origins. In each episode, Sohla El-Waylly details the surprising history of some of our favorite dishes as she attempts to recreate the original version using historical cooking techniques and ingredients. Along the way, Sohla highlights the differences between the ancient recipe and how we would prepare the modern version today.
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CREDITS

Host
Sohla El-Waylly

Created By
Brian Huffman

Executive Producers
Sarah Walker
Brian Huffman
Jon Erwin

Executive Producer
Sohla El-Waylly

Co-Producer
John Schlirf

Writer
Jon Erwin

Historian - Scripts
Ken Albala

Guest
Carla Lalli Music

Post-Production Supervisors
Jon Erwin
John Schlirf

Editor
Craig Brasen

Colorist
John Schlirf

Mixer
Tim Wagner

Manager, Rights & Clearances
Chris Kim

Executive Creative Director, A+E Networks
Tim Nolan

VP, Marketing Production, A+E Networks
Kate Leonard

VP, Brand Creative, History
Matt Neary

Music Courtesy of
Extreme Music
A+E Signature Tracks

Additional Footage & Photos Courtesy of
Getty Images
Alamy
Pond5
Wikimedia