Gnocchi alla Romana
(
Gnocchi Roman Style)
Ingredients:
35 oz. (1 liter) milk
1 cup (250 grams) *semolina
3 tbs (60 grams) butter
5 tbs (100 grams) grated Parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks
Directions:
Heat the milk in a thick bottomed pan and when it is about to boil sprinkle in the semolina, stirring vigorously with a whisk. Continue to stir with a wooden spoon while they cook for about ten minutes. When they form a fairly solid consistency remove from heat.
Add the butter, salt, half the Parmesan cheese and egg yolks and stir well.
Pour the mixture onto a flat dampened surface and flatten with the help of a flat wet spatula till about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick.
Using a 2 inch (4 cm) diameter round pastry cutter, cut the gnocchi into disks and put them in a large buttered oven dish with the edges laid one on top of the other.
Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese, cover with butter flakes and place in a pre-heated oven of 400° F (200° C) till they are very hot and the butter has melted forming a golden crust.
*Semolina is coarsely ground grain, usually wheat, with particles mostly between 0.25 and 0.75 mm in diameter. The same milling grade is sometimes called farina, or grits if made from maize. It refers to two very different products: semolina for porridge is usually steel-cut soft common wheat whereas "durum semolina" used for pasta or gnocchi is coarsely ground from either durum wheat or other hard wheat.
Non-durum semolina porridge or farina has come to be known in the United States by the trade name "Cream of Wheat".