Gnocchi alla romana

Gnocchi alla romana are baked discs of semolina cooked in milk with butter, egg yolks and parmesan. They belong to the gnocchi and spätzle group but are very different from ordinary potato gnocchi: they are baked, not boiled.

They are flat discs 4–5 cm across and about 1 cm thick, arranged overlapping like scales in a baking dish. The name points to Rome and Lazio, where the dish is a local classic; from ordinary gnocchi they share only the word gnocco, meaning a small lump of dough.

To make them, durum wheat semolina is poured in a thin stream into hot milk with butter, salt and nutmeg and cooked until very thick. Off the heat, egg yolks and grated parmesan are stirred in, the mixture is spread in a layer and left to cool completely. Discs are then cut out with a glass or a cutter.

The discs go into a buttered dish, are drizzled with melted butter, sprinkled with parmesan and baked for 20–25 minutes at about 200 °C until golden. The dish is served as a first course or as a side for meat and needs no sauce.

Shops sell ready-made gnocchi alla romana for the oven. Check that the ingredients are just semolina, milk, eggs, cheese and butter; the homemade mixture can be prepared a day ahead and kept in the fridge.