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Gnochi
1 pint milk 1/4 pound semolina 1 pint water Boil the milk and water together in a double saucepan, sprinkle in the semolina, slowly stirring all the time, for three-quarters of an hour. Turn out to cool in a flat dish. When cold, cut into shapes, cover each with bread crumbs and flour, and fry in boiling oil or butter. A tablespoon of sweet herbs may be added if liked or a flavoring of onion.
This is semolina gnocchi in the Roman style, set firm and fried rather than baked. The method is sound; the proportions and timing need adjusting for a modern stove.
- The hinge: get the paste stiff enoughA quart of liquid to 4 oz of semolina is a loose ratio, and the paste must cook down until it pulls cleanly away from the sides of the pan and a spoon stands in it. If it is still pourable when you turn it out it will never cut into shapes, and no amount of chilling will save it.
- Which pintIf the book is British, a pint is 20 fl oz, so the recipe means about 2 1/2 US cups each of milk and water. American readers using 16 oz pints will get a stiffer, faster-setting paste, which is no bad thing here.
- Semolina by weightA quarter pound is roughly 3/4 cup of coarse durum semolina. Use semolina proper, not fine semolina flour and not farina, or the texture goes pasty.
- Cooking timeThree-quarters of an hour reflects the gentle, indirect heat of the double saucepan the recipe calls for. Over direct low heat, whisking, the semolina will thicken in 10 to 15 minutes; keep going until it is very stiff rather than watching the clock.
- SaltThe recipe gives none. Season the milk and water before the semolina goes in — about a teaspoon — or the finished gnocchi taste of nothing but fried crumbs.
- Setting and cuttingSpread the paste about 1/2 inch thick on an oiled tray or plate and refrigerate at least two hours until firm. Cut rounds with a glass or squares with a knife; the classic Roman shape is 2-inch discs.
- Breading orderThe recipe names crumbs and flour but no binder. Flour first, then beaten egg or milk, then crumbs, and let the coated pieces rest ten minutes before frying so the crust sets.
- "Boiling oil"Meaning hot enough to sizzle, not literally boiling — 350 to 365F. Fry in batches until deep gold, two to three minutes a side, and drain on paper.
- Yield and servingEnough for four as a light main course with tomato sauce, or six as a side. Grated hard cheese stirred into the hot paste, though not mentioned here, is traditional and improves it considerably.
Semolina gnocchi belong to the Roman tradition — gnocchi alla romana, where the cooked paste is set, cut into rounds and baked with butter and cheese; frying, as here, is the plainer and more frugal treatment. The word gnocchi is generally traced to a root meaning a knot or knuckle of wood, describing the lumpy shape rather than any particular ingredient, which is why it covers potato, semolina and flour dumplings alike. Wheat semolina with milk was cheap, filling and reliably obtainable, and vegetarian and wartime-economy cookbooks alike leaned on starch-and-dairy dishes to fill the place on the plate where a chop would otherwise sit. The suggestion of sweet herbs or onion is an attempt to give the dish the savoury depth that meat would have supplied.