I spent all night eating for the sake of my faithful readers. Yep. That’s right. Strictly for the sake of my faithful readers (my dad and maybe one or two other people out there), I spent all night eating. Why did I spend all night eating, you might ask?
Because I wanted to get this recipe right. (For my faithful readers, obviously.) Because the directions that came with the recipe? Oh so wrong!
Take a look at the directions below. They say to bake the gnocchi for 15 minutes, until the Parmesan cheese is golden brown. My Parmesan cheese wasn’t even wilted after 15 minutes and my gnocchi was still completely white on top. So instead I turned on the broiler and broiled the gnocchi for a few minutes. End of problem, right?
Wrong. I bit into my first round of gnocchi (I had three rounds) only to find that the gnocchi was barely cooked inside. Most people would probably find this gross. Like eating undercooked pancakes. I persevered. I mean I’m not going to waste perfectly good food! I ate the five gnocchi on my plate and returned the remaining gnocchi to the oven for a spell while I boiled some water on the stove.
The last time I made gnocchi it involved potatoes and boiling water on the stove. So I figured I could boil the gnocchi first (sort of like dumplings) and then bake them in the oven afterward. Just so you know, round two of gnocchi – baked for about 10 or 15 minutes longer – also undercooked! I was hoping to get it right on round three.
ingredients.
- 4 c. whole milk
- 1 c. semolina flour
- 1 c. grated Parmesan, plus more for cooking
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
directions.
- Heat the milk in a heavy pan over medium heat until a ring of bubbles form around the edges. Using a wooden spoon, gradually add the semolina flour into the spot, stirring continuously. Continue constantly stirring, 15 to 20 minutes, as the dough begins to firm and thicken. Make sure to sweep the edges and bottom of the pan as you stir. The mixture will be very dense and should pull cleanly away from the sides of the pot.
- Remove from heat. Let cool a minute. Stir in cheese, then the yolks and salt. Stir vigorously when you add the eggs so the eggs don’t scramble. Transfer to a mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
- The next day, heat the oven to 375 degrees and place rack in the uppermost position.
- Use a small springform ice cream scoop to shape even-size balls of gnocchi and place on a greased baking sheet or dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for 15 minutes, until the Parmesan cheese turns light golden brown. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.
I would like to say third time’s a charm but honestly after boiling the gnocchi until they floated and then baking them for 40 plus minutes, the larger gnocchi still seemed a bit undercooked! The smaller gnocchi were fine.
I was so full after three rounds of gnocchi (or maybe it was all the wine I consumed beforehand?), that all I wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep. Instead, I headed straight to my laptop so I could report my cooking tales.
Oh. One last thing. I don’t have a small ice cream scoop. Instead I used a round tablespoon. Which I’m assuming would be smaller than a small ice cream scoop. If you choose to make this recipe as is (using an ice cream scoop), I would suggest increasing the cooking time substantially.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 