Gnocchi Alla Romano

You’ve heard of potato gnocchi, I don’t mean the little lumps of rubber you can buy in a bag. I mean the little light fluffy dumplings that are dropped into boiling water for a few minutes. They only serve in proper Italian restaurants or make on a Thursday when it’s quiet.
Well this is different. This is Semolina Gnocchi and it’s baked in the oven. Never had it since I was served it in Italy and I didn’t know what it was. Never seen it in a restaurant here since. A bit of preparation on this one but worth the effort. This is for the real foodies to try.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup semolina
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp butter
• pinch of nutmeg

Pour the milk into a pot over a medium heat to bring to a boil. As soon as the milk starts to bubble, lower the heat and slowly add in the semolina, whisking the two ingredients together.

Once the mixture starts to thicken, reduce the heat and continue to add semolina and whisk together. The end result should be a thick mashed potato consistency.

Remove from the heat and add a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg. Working quickly, add the cheese and mix all together with a wooden spoon. Add the butter and continue to stir until the butter is completely melted. Lastly, mix in the egg yolks and salt.

Spread the gnocchi mixture evenly onto a lined oven tray (The mixture needs to be about 3/4 inch thick) and set aside for about 15-20 minutes to cool. After it has cooled down, remove the dough from the oven pan Using the lining paper. Brush some melted butter on the bottom of an oven dish to prevent the gnocchi from sticking. Use a round cookie cutter (2 1/2 – 3 inches) to cut circles of the gnocchi dough and place onto the oven pan.

Place the cut dough onto the oven dish with traditionally a slight overlap and brush melted butter over each piece. Lastly, sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese over each of the dough circles and bake in oven at 200 C for about 15 minutes. Then grill Broil for another 5 minutes until the top of the gnocchi is very lightly browned. Serve warm with a light tomato sauce.