Gnocchi Alla Romana (Baked Semolina Gnocchi)

The “good ol’ days” come to mind when I make this recipe. I hope you like this delicious recipe.

Ingredients

Combine milk, 1/4 cup butter, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Whisk semolina into boiling milk, mixing well to prevent lumps. Reduce heat and cook, stirring often, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. Add egg yolks, 1 cup Grana Padano, and Gruyere cheese; stir well.
Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat; cook and stir pancetta until crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir pancetta into semolina mixture.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 baking sheets with 1 1/2 teaspoon butter.
Spread semolina mixture onto 1 of the prepared baking sheets, about 1/2-inch thick. Allow to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
Cut small disks out of cooled semolina using a juice glass or cookie cutter. Place the disks onto the other prepared baking sheet, slightly overlapping the disks. Sprinkle the remaining Grana Padano cheese over disks and dot with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoon butter.
Bake in the preheated oven until gnocchi are nicely crisp and golden, about 20 minutes.
You can easily prepare the gnocchi in advance, refrigerate or freeze, and bake at the last minute.
Speck (Northern Italian bacon-style cured meat) or bacon can be used in place of the pancetta. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese can be used in place of the Grana Padano cheese.