Gnocchi alla Romana ( Roman Semolina Gnocchi )

 

Gnocchi alla Romana ( Roman Semolina Gnocchi ) are vintage Italian gnocchi recipe rolled and cooked many centuries before potato gnocchi! They are great side dish, main or even can turn into divine dessert with semolina, parmesan, milk, butter, and nutmeg!

 

These are pre – potato gnocchi, roman style with semolina and powdered nutmeg. Similar semolina dough pasta was known in Ancient Rome so there comes the name “alla Romana” ( Roman style ). Usually, we serve them as side dish with bechamel, cheese sauce, spaghetti sauce, or Quarantine Beef Goulash . You may also sprinkle some grilled pancetta on the top! No seafood pairing, please.

 

If you add fresh lemon zest or orange zest and sprinkle freshly baked batch with some powdered sugar, you have an excellent, simple, dessert recipe!

Also, if you love simple food, the version we are presenting you today may be an excellent main dish served with extra grated parmesan cheese or grilled vegetables.

What is semolina?

“Semolino” is coarse grind of durum wheat, and we use it to make many types of pasta and desserts. The main difference between semolina and pasta flour is that semolina is coarser than other flours. It’s also often darker.

How to make semolina gnocchi?

They are really easy to make. You boil the milk with butter and salt, add semolina, stir vigorously until it thickens, add egg yolk, freshly grated parmigiano and freshly grated nutmeg.

It is the most important ingredient, at least for our taste! It gives such a special flavour to this simple comfort food. Once boiled, you spread mixture onto your baking sheet, tap it using your fingers to get flat dough, cool it and cut your gnocchi alla Romana to bake and serve.

 

So far you have seen almost endless possibilities to serve this beautiful simple dish but there is something I have to turn your attention to: once you read the recipe below, it is enough for six people if served as side dish. But, if you decide to serve it as main or dessert, it feeds four people!

Here we are at the part of this post dedicated to information that enrich foodie’s knowledge so here there is this question /answers part:

Is gnocchi the same as dumplings?

Essentially, gnocchi are a form of dumplings. But their light, airy texture and full potato flavor makes them a unique pasta with a long history in classic European cuisine.

 

What types of gnocchi are there?

Potato gnocchi, pumpkin gnocchi, gnudi, malfatti, bread gnocchi (Canederli), ricotta gnocchi, and semolina alla Romana ones.

 

If you find this idea inspiring, here are some inspiration on what to serve with gnocchi recipes: for 17 go to Insanelygoodrecipes  and for 37 more go to Delicious .