Gnocchi alla Romana

Semolina cooked like polenta, cut into discs and baked under butter and cheese.

Egg. Not vegetarian — contains parmesan whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 250 g fine semolina
• 1 litre whole milk
• 100 g butter
• 120 g parmesan, grated
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon salt
• nutmeg

Method

1. THERE IS NO POTATO IN THIS AND NOTHING IS BOILED. It shares a name with potato gnocchi and no technique whatever — this is closer to polenta that has been allowed to set.
2. Bring the milk to a simmer with the salt and nutmeg.
3. Rain the semolina in while whisking hard, then stir with a wooden spoon over a low heat for 10 minutes until it is thick enough to stand a spoon in and comes away from the pan.
4. Take it off the heat and beat in the yolks, half the butter and half the parmesan.
5. Spread it 1.5 cm thick on a wetted tray, smooth the top with a wet spatula, and leave it to cool completely. It must be cold and firm before cutting, which takes an hour.
6. Cut discs with a wet 6 cm cutter and lay them overlapping in a buttered dish, like roof tiles.
7. Dot with the rest of the butter, scatter the rest of the parmesan, and bake at 200C for 25 minutes until the tops are browned and crisp at the edges.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes