Gnocchi Alla Romana with Butternut Squash |
Author: Ciao Chow Linda
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 1 hour
- 1 cup butternut squash, diced into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt, pepper
- 9 oz. semolina (1¼ cup)
- 1½ quarts of milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
- pinch of salt
- pinch of white pepper
- a few gratings of nutmeg
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- Peel the butternut squash and dice into small pieces.
- Toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- (I use herbed salt that I make from fresh herbs.)
- Roast the squash in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes, turning once.
- Remove squash from oven and set aside.
- Place the milk and the semolina in a saucepan.
- Many people tell you to heat the milk first, then add the semolina, but I find it gets lumpy that way, so I start with cold milk and add the semolina directly.
- Whisk it constantly, adding half the stick of butter (4 tablespoons), the salt, the white pepper and the nutmeg.
- After about five minutes, it will thicken quite a bit, and you can switch from stirring with the whisk to a wooden spoon.
- Keep stirring another ten minutes until the mixture is very thick.
- Remove from the heat and add half the parmesan cheese.
- Whisk the eggs in a glass measuring cup or bowl.
- Don't add the eggs directly into the hot gnocchi mixture or you might wind up with scrambled eggs.
- Instead, add a small amount - maybe a few tablespoons - of the gnocchi mixture to the eggs, stirring quickly with a whisk to incorporate.
- Do this a few times until the mixture is thickened and homogenized.
- Add the egg mixture back to the gnocchi mixture and stir in the reserved squash.
- Wet a cookie sheet (one with raised edges) with a little water.
- Spread the gnocchi mixture on the cookie sheet, to an even thickness of about ¾ inch.
- Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator and let it cool for at least four hours or overnight.
- Take a round cookie cutter, or biscuit cutter, or even the edge of a glass, and cut out circles, about two to three inches in diameter.
- Grease an oven proof casserole, and place the rounds inside, overlapping slightly.
- Make a second layer, but don't completely cover up the first layer around the edges, since you want them to get some browning too.
- Melt 4 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the gnocchi, then sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup parmesan cheese.
- Bake uncovered, at 400 degrees, for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Recipe by Ciao Chow Linda at https://ciaochowlinda.com/2019/10/gnocchi-alla-romana-with-butternut-squash.html
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