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Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Semolina Gnocchi



I follow several international food accounts on instagram.  Recently, a Middle Eastern foodie friend of mine brought Semolina to my attention.  Wikipedia (because I like a straightforward definition), defines Semolina as the course, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat, or pasta wheat.  It can be incorporated in savory or sweet dishes and is used in a lot of different parts of the world.  I found mine at Nabeel's European Market, here in Birmingham.



You can also order it on Amazon:





After purchasing my Semolina, I was excited to give it a try in a savory dish.  But, what to cook?  I turned to Pinterest, of course!  This is the recipe I decided on:



If you read the recipe, you'll see that after you've added the semolina to the simmering milk, they want you to keep stirring for 7 to 10 minutes.  Well, the dough got super thick fast, so I didn't stir for anywhere near that long.  I'm sure there's a good reason they want you to stir that long, but I didn't hang in there to find out what it was. Ha!  And my finished product still turned out delish!


After refrigerating my dough for about an hour, I used the rim of a glass to cut out perfectly round Gnocchis.



When the finished product came out of the oven, it was soooo yummy!  Semolina Gnocchi is comfort food.  To describe the taste, I would say a warm, buttery, fluffy, cheesy delight.  These were excellent served with a chicken curry dish.  They taste great alone, but it took it over the top when we dipped them in the curry sauce!

In fact, these were so good, I made them the next night too!  This time, I added in Bacon and Spinach.  If you try this recipe, you'll see that you can incorporate any flavor you like during the butter/egg/cheese step (see recipe).



I always enjoy branching out with new foods and ingredients.  I hope I can inspire you to try something new too.  Semolina is a good way to go.  If you search it on Pinterest, you'll see the savory and sweet recipe ideas are endless!  It is a very versatile ingredient.  It also can't hurt that it is popular in many international locales.  Make your meals a little more cultural!




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