Day 8 – Gnocchi alla Romana

There’s gnocchi, made with potatoes and eggs, and there’s Gnocchi alla Romana, made with semolina. Give it a try, it’s worth your attention. I have seen it served up as an accompaniment to duck and carrot puree in  a local up-market cafe, but this is traditionally served as  a first course or light supper dish. You can add a pesto or meat sauce to it when you serve it, but usually it’s flavoured with butter and cheese. Think of this as macaroni cheese for grown-ups.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 cups of milk; 1 cup semolina; 1/4 cup melted butter; 1 egg plus 2 yolks; 1/3 cup parmesan, grated; pinch of salt; pinch of ground nutmeg; tbsp melted butter, extra; 1/3 cup cream; 1/3 cup grated parmesan, extra

METHOD

Rub butter in a baking tin to grease.

Beat together butter, parmesan, egg and egg yolks and season with nutmeg and salt and set aside.

Heat milk in a large saucepan. When milk is boiling, turn heat down and pour in semolina while stirring. Make sure you pour in a slow and steady stream. Increase heat again to medium. Cook until milk has been absorbed and mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan in one mass (about 6 to 10 minutes).

Remove semolina from heat and beat in the butter, 1/3 cup grated parmesan and the egg mixture. When smooth, spoon mixture into the greased baking tin – spread evenly in the pan. Use a knife or a spatula if necessary. The semolina should be about 4 cm thick. Set aside to cool for half an hour.

Preheat oven to 190C.  Grease another baking dish – a ceramic dish is fine.

Remove cooled semolina from other dish (it should slip out if properly greased) and place on counter or board. Using a biscuit cutter or 7cm-diametre juice glass cut semolina slices. Arrange these slices slightly overlapping in your newly greased baking pan. Make the topping by blending the butter and cream and pour over the unbaked gnocchi.

Sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Feel free to put under the grill for 3 minutes to crisp it up.

COST:

$6.00 for 4 people