Roman Style Semolina Gnocchi Recipes

ROMAN STYLE BAKED SEMOLINA GNOCCHI

Steps:

• In a 3- to 4-quart saucepan, combine milk, nutmeg, salt and 4 tablespoons butter. Bring just to a boil, lower heat to medium and immediately start adding semolina in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Keep whisking to make a smooth mixture. Reduce heat to very low and cook, stirring, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in half the cheese and the egg yolks.
• Use some of the oil to grease a baking sheet. Spread hot dough on baking sheet to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until very cold, 4 hours or overnight.
• Heat remaining oil in a saucepan, add garlic and onion, cook until soft and add tomatoes. Simmer gently about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Use a little remaining butter to grease a shallow baking dish about 9 by 13 inches. Use a 2- to 3-inch round cookie cutter or a glass to cut disks of chilled dough. Keep dipping cutter in cold water to prevent sticking. Lift disks off baking sheet and arrange, slightly overlapping, in baking dish. Scraps can be kneaded briefly and smoothed out to allow for a few additional disks. Sprinkle disks in dish with remaining cheese and dot with remaining butter. Bake about 15 minutes, until lightly browned.
• Gently reheat sauce. Serve gnocchi with some sauce alongside each portion.

ROMAN-STYLE SEMOLINA GNOCCHI

Steps:

• Put the milk, 4 tablespoons butter, and salt in the saucepan. Set over medium heat, stir occasionally until the milk is hot and the butter melted, then gradually pour in the semolina, whisking steadily.
• Cook the cereal slowly, over medium-low heat, for 1/2 hour or more, as the cereal thickens. Whisk frequently, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan too. Use a wooden spoon when the mixture stiffens, and cook until it is difficult to stir at all. If you want to cook it faster, raise the heat and stir constantly until done.
• Scrape and pour the hot semolina in the middle of the baking sheet-it doesn't need to be greased or lined. Spread the cereal with a metal or rubber spatula to fill the pan in an even layer. Here's a tip: dip the spatula blade in water to keep it from sticking to the grain. Let the sheet of semolina cool to room temperature and solidify. (If you want to bake it the next day, wrap and refrigerate the sheet.)
• Set a rack in the middle of the oven, and heat it to 400˚. Butter the insides of the baking dish, using about 2 of the 8 tablespoons of butter; melt the remainder, to drizzle on the gnocchi.
• With a large ruler and a sharp knife, cut 2-inch rows, lengthwise and crosswise, in the sheet of firm semolina, dividing it into small squares. Lift out one square-it should come up easily with a spatula-and lay it down, oriented to appear diamond-shaped, in a corner of the baking dish. Lay a whole row of semolina diamonds, evenly overlapping each other, the length of the dish. Arrange another row right alongside the first, and so on, until the baking dish is completely filled with diamond shapes and the baking sheet is empty.
• Drizzle the melted butter all over the rows of gnocchi di semolino. Toss the grated and shredded cheeses together, and sprinkle evenly over the dish.
• Bake the gnocchi for 30 minutes, or until the butter is bubbling in the pan and the top is a beautiful golden brown. Let the dish sit for about 5 minutes; cut in squares and serve hot.

ROMAN-STYLE GNOCCHI

Steps:

• Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Once the oil is warm (not hot), add the garlic.
• When the garlic begins to get golden around the edges, about 2 minutes, stir in all of the milk and the salt.
• Bring the milk to a gentle simmer, stirring often to avoid a skin forming on the surface of the milk and to avoid scorching on the bottom.
• When the milk begins to lightly simmer, gradually stir in the semolina flour. Keep stirring and folding the mixture for about 3 minutes, until it begins to pull away from the sides of the saucepan.
• Add the melted butter and keep folding until all of the butter is incorporated into the semolina.
• When all of the butter has been absorbed, turn off the heat.
• Even out the surface of the semolina mixture with a flat, spatula and immediately add the egg yolk and the cheese, working quickly to spread the yolk over the entire surface of the semolina and then folding the yolk into the semolina. This must be done very quickly as you want to fold the mixture in on itself before the yolk has a chance to begin cooking.
• Once the yolk has been incorporated, add the Parmesan and continue alternating between stirring and folding the mixture until everything is blended together in a nice, dough-like mass.
• Turn mixture out onto the prepared cookie sheet and flatten the "dough" with the same spatula you used before, until it's about 3/8-inch thick (you can go to a 1/2-inch if you want a heartier gnocchi, it will just take a bit longer to cook).
• Set the cookie sheet aside and allow the gnocchi 'dough' to cool at room temperature until firm enough to handle, approximately 45 minutes.
• Cut the gnocchi into whatever shape or size you would like (at the restaurant we cut the gnocchi into rectangular 'fingers', but you can be creative and use a biscuit cutter or juice glass to make round gnocchi).
• Traditionally, Roman gnocchi are layered in a buttered dish and baked in the oven for 17 to 18 minutes at 425 degrees F. At 13 Gypsies we sear the gnocchi in a hot pan to form a crust of 'grilled' cheese while keeping the center moist and tender. Top with your favorite sauce and enjoy!