Gnocchi à la Romaine with sage brown butter sauce - PUBLISHED

-- adapted from Elizabeth David's book French Country Cooking, pg 87

1 - Ms. David's recipe calls for wheat semolina, and I made it with cornmeal by accident. It turned out quite nice. Instead of the brown butter, I served it with grilled zucchini sliced in half and drizzled with olive oil when, once cooked, was drizzled with pesto sauce, which I also drizzled over the gnocchi.

2 - I think I've got it. The flavor is very good, the texture is quite nice. I arranged the squares almost standing-but-not-quite in a glass bread pan - the quantity wouldn't quite fill a gratin dish. Hmmm... maybe I should double the recipe? Anyway, a slightly larger container to allow the pieces to lay down a bit more would likely be preferable. It got an enthusiastic thumbs-up from Ben. I served it with the Salade de Carottes.

3 - I made again and as a dish, it is very good, with a compliment of flavors, but it sorely needs to be matched with something - it is not a stand alone dish but requires a companion. I will add this information in the recipe, as well as a note to experiment with doubling the recipe to fit a gratin dish.

4 - I think I finally got it! I ended up tripling the recipe, adding a bit about using parchment paper, and adding in a bit about baking (which I still have to test to be able to give more accurate instructions.) It turned out really nicely and I look forward to doing it again. I think though that the big breakthrough was using a finer grind of cornmeal. In the past the cornmeal I had was coarser and so the paste didn't have the same stiffness it got this time with the finer cornmeal (which is essentially just a regular grocery-store grade cornmeal).

5 - It continues to be good. I changed things a bit, adding the butter in with the boiling like I would for grits. I don't quite have the baking time down. I put it in for a half hour reasoning that I was essentially reheating it, but I think it actually has to bake. After a half hour the cheese was melted but not browned, and while the sides had puffed up the middle had not. Next time, more time! Oh, and I used the gratin dish and I had a hard time getting it all in. I have to admit I didn't allow the paste to cool enough, so that is key to making it easier to cut and arrange. It needs to not only cool, but actually be cold.

6 - Don't change a thing! It's really good, a bit like a cornmeal souffle. It definitely needs something light to go with it if you're serving it a the main dish.

6 cups milk

1½ tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

¾ tsp nutmeg

3 Tbsp minced chives

12 oz (340g) cornmeal, fine or medium grind

⅓ cup and 1 rounded Tbsp (3oz/85g) butter + 2 oz butter + extra

⅓ cup and 1 rounded Tbsp (3oz/85g) + ⅓ cup and 1 rounded Tbsp grated Asiago or Gruyère

3 eggs, whisked

8 fresh sage leaves

1. This dish takes a long time since the cornmeal paste needs to cool completely, so make the paste in the morning for an evening meal. 
2. Put the milk in a medium saucepan and slowly bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
3. As the milk warms, add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, chives, cornmeal and the first 3oz of butter. Stir constantly.
4. When it start to gently boil, turn down the heat. You'll likely have to stir vigorously to avoid getting burned by the bubbles popping in the thick paste. 
5. Stir until it stiffens to a consistency where a wooden spoon can stand in it. Remove from the heat.
6. Mix in the first 3oz of the cheese and stir until the batter is smooth.
7. Whisk in the egg until completely incorporated.
8. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and evenly spread the paste to a thickness of 1⁄4" to 1⁄2" and set aside allow plenty of time for it to get cold in the refrigerator until very stiff.
9. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
10. Once the paste is cold and nicely stiff, grease a gratin dish (or a lasagna dish? Last time I really had to cram it in). Cut the lump of paste into 1½" diameter rounds or 1½" squares and arrange them in an overlapping pattern like fish scales.
11. Sprinkle the remaining 3oz cheese on top.
12. Put in the oven for 45 minutes to on hour, or until the dish is bubbling nicely all over.
13. Now, turn on the broiler and cook this way until the cheese starts to brown in spots.
14. Meanwhile, put the remaining butter in a small saucepan and melt at medium-high heat. 
1. The butter will start to froth and making crackling sounds. 
2. When the frothing stops and the crackling slows, look to the bottom of the pot and you will see the milk solids, which have separated and settled there.
3. When the milk solids start to turn golden brown, remove immediately from the heat source - this stage is quite quick when it comes, and left any longer the butter will be in danger of burning.
15. Add the sage leaves and leave for at least 5 minutes for the sage to infuse.
16. When the gnocchi is ready, remove from the oven and pour over the browned sage butter.
17. Serve immediately as a side or with something a bit tart or vinegary, such as a crunchy salad like Salade de Carrottes, or a selection of pickled vegetables like onions, beets and carrots.