Ingredients

1 pint Milk

Method

Bring the milk to the boil, season it with salt, pepper and nutmeg, pour in the semolina, and stir until you have a thick mixture in which the spoon will stand up. (This operation is best carried out in a double boiler, which takes longer but ensures a smooth mixture.) Stir in the cheese and the beaten eggs (away from the fire) and pour the semolina on to a flat buttered dish or tin in one layer about 1/4 inch deep.

When it is cold, cut into rounds with a cutter about 1 1/2 inch in diameter and arrange these in circles, overlapping each other, in a fireproof dish. Put in a generous amount of butter on the top and brown under the grill or in the oven. A few minutes before serving add a handful of grated cheese; when this has melted the gnocchi are ready.

A variation of this dish is the addition of 3 oz of chopped ham to the original mixture at the same time as the eggs and cheese are added. The exact proportions of semolina to milk depend upon the quality of semolina used; the finer the semolina, the more is needed.

Like all gnocchi mixtures this one is easier to work if left to set overnight. It is also easier and quicker to cut the semolina mixture into squares or lozenges with a knife than to stamp it into rounds, although the knife system does not give quite such an elegant appearence.

Semolina should be bought in small quantities, kept in a dry place, and used up quickly. If damp or stale, it tends to turn lumpy.