For an easier, heartier gnocchi, do as the Romans did

If you've ever made gnocchi, you know how difficult it can be to get right. "We've all made the gluey, leaden sinkers," New York chef Jonathan Benno told The Washington Post more than a decade ago.

If you haven't made them, you've certainly tasted them. "They're dense, chewy and bland, little gummy potato pellets that taste of raw flour and, frankly, aren't worth eating," chef Tom Colicchio told the Los Angeles Times. "Done right, though, gnocchi are pillowy and tender, and they practically melt in your mouth."

But let's be clear about something: They were talking about potato gnocchi, which have become the most popular iteration of a dish with ancient roots that has been made from such other ingredients as flour, semolina, ricotta and more.

As much as I adore perfectly made potato gnocchi, I rarely make it at home. What I do make is the semolina version: gnocchi alla Romana, named for its origins in Rome. (Or maybe Romania, or maybe northern Italy? Food history is a tricky beast.)

This is a very different dish than potato gnocchi. Rather than roasting potatoes, combining the starchy flesh with flour and egg yolk and forming them - lightly, so lightly, please! - into dumplings before boiling them, this style comes together more like polenta. You make a porridge with the semolina flour, cooking it on the stovetop with milk, until it gets nice and thick, stir in egg, butter and cheese, then spread it out on a sheet pan to let it solidify. You then cut it into circles or squares, shingle them in a casserole dish, add more butter and cheese - make it rain! - and bake until the top is golden brown and a little crunchy, and the inside is creamy and soft.

You can see the appeal: No roasting, no boiling, no need to have a light touch to prevent the gluten development that leads to tough dumplings.

Another way it's different is in the serving: Traditionally, gnocchi alla Romana is eaten plain, as a side dish or perhaps with a salad, with no sauce or other accoutrements needed to distract you from the elemental satisfaction of a dish so hearty and warming. After I first started getting into making it, though, I couldn't resist playing around a little, and I have nestled sauteed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, even asparagus and peas in between those shingles before baking.

Heresy? Maybe not. The guru of classic Italian cooking, the late Marcella Hazan, called for prosciutto, bacon or ham strips to top her gnocchi alla Romana before baking, so I don't feel so bad about my wanderings. Nonetheless, the recipe I present here is stripped down, so you can experience it as I think it was originally intended - and then start playing around with any additions you want.

In that L.A. Times piece, Colicchio also said, "My general rule of thumb when it comes to cooking is that the fewer ingredients a dish contains, the harder it is to do right."

That is certainly true of potato gnocchi, but guess what? Gnocchi alla Romana, with just six ingredients (including salt), is almost impossible to mess up.

ROMAN-STYLE GNOCCHI

SERVINGS: 8

Active time: 55 mins; Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days. Freezing is not recommended.

Make ahead: You can refrigerate the spread-out gnocchi, covered, for up to 3 days before cutting, assembling and baking.

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and divided, plus more for greasing the dish

• 4 cups whole milk

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste

• 1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) semolina, preferably coarse

• 2 large egg yolks

• 3 ounces pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated and divided (1 1/2 lightly packed cups)

• Freshly ground black pepper

Steps

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Use a little butter to grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the milk and salt. Stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot with a rubber spatula to prevent scorching, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to medium-low to prevent a boil-over. Then sprinkle in the semolina, stirring constantly as you do. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is so thick that the spatula can stand in the middle without falling over, 2 to 3 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes, then add half of the butter (4 tablespoons) and 1/2 cup of the cheese, stirring until the butter and cheese melt and the mixture is thoroughly combined. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and stir until incorporated. The mixture should be the texture of thick mashed potatoes.

Scrape the semolina mixture onto a large sheet pan and use wet hands, a damp knife or offset spatula to spread it out evenly, and pat the top to smooth it. (It should be about 1/2 inch thick, but it’s okay if it’s a little thicker.) Let cool to room temperature, about 5 minutes.

Fill a small bowl with water. Dip a two-inch cookie cutter, biscuit cutter or drinking glass in the water and use it to stamp out rounds, re-dipping frequently, or use a knife to cut it into two-inch squares. If cutting into rounds, mush together and spread out the scraps again and keep cutting, repeating until all of the mixture is used.

Arrange the pieces in overlapping rows, like shingles, in the buttered 9-by-13-inch dish. Sprinkle them with the remaining 1 cup of the pecorino, and top with the remaining pieces of butter.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cheese is browned in spots. Grind a generous amount of pepper on top and serve warm.

Substitutions: Vegan? >> Use vegan butter, Just Egg or another liquid egg substitute, oat milk, and vegan parmesan. Coarse semolina >> Fine semolina. Pecorino Romano >> Parmigiano-Reggiano. Variations: Once you make the classic version, you can riff in nontraditional ways, layering sauteed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, asparagus or peas among the gnocchi shingles.

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