When we hear the word gnocchi we immediately think of the potato gnocchi. Those little oblong balls of light and fluffy potato (although sometimes thick and chewy – if not done properly) served with a meat sauce or any other sauce.
Today I will talk about a different kind of gnocchi that we serve in Italy, they are called gnocchi alla Romana – gnocchi made in the roman way. These gnocchi are extremely simple and easy, they are made with semolina, milk and cheese, and they are usually baked in the oven.
Ingredients for 6 people:
- 1 litre of milk
- 250g semolina
- 60 butter
- 2 cloves of garlic
- salt and pepper
- 100g grated parmesan
- 2 egg yolks
Instructions:
In a large pot heat milk, butter, and whole cloves of garlic until they reach the boiling point.
Remove the garlic cloves from the pot.
Then start slowly pouring the semolina flour in the milk while you stir trying not to let any lumps form.
Cook the semolina for about 5 minutes or until it is nice and thick. Taste for salt and pepper, you can also add nutmeg.
Take the pot off the stove and mix in the 2 egg yolks and the grated parmesan until it is al well blended.
. . . here comes my secret trick . . .
Roll out the semolino blob between 2 sheets of parchment paper – be careful because it will be very hot, but you want to do this before it gets cold and sets !
With a round pasta cutter ( or cookie cutter) cut out as many circles as you can fit, and place the circles in an ovenproof dish. ( see picture)
Press the scraps together again, and roll out and repeat the cutting until you have no more dough.
If you would like to be creative, you can roll the gnocchi thinner and “stuff” them with cheese or ham or vegetables. Dress the gnocchi with butter and grated parmesan cheese and bake them in the oven at 180* C ( 350* F) until they are golden and smelling wonderful.
These ones were stuffed with gorgonzola cheese and dressed with butter, mascarpone and walnuts !
Personal Chef Grazia 