Audrey Hepburn’s Recipe Book

I recently came across a beautiful book written by Luca Dotti, Audrey Hepburn’s youngest son, entitled “Audrey at Home – Memories of my Mother’s Kitchen.” Those close to me know how much I adore Audrey and that I own many publications about her life as well as a significant movie collection of her films. She’s such a graceful person and she lived such a colourful life, albeit filled with as much sorrow as there was joy. I was so excited to get my hands on this book and try out some of the recipes included. There are many candid photos of the star’s life and her son featured many personal stories that paint a picture of Hollywood’s sweetheart as an actress, mother, housewife and lover of good food and perfect company.

I decided to cook the recipe on page 87 – Gnocchi alla Romana because it’s a really simple dish to prepare for dinner and the recipe really appealed to my love of melted cheese, quite frankly!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1L milk
1/2 teaspoon (5g) fine sea salt
250g semolina
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 sticks (160g) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
150g grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200 Degrees C. Butter a medium-size baking dish.
Bring the milk to the boil in a medium saucepan, with the added salt.
Add the semolina gradually and stir for at least 10 minutes. You’re looking for a smooth consistency with no lumps.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Combine the egg yolks, 1/2 stick of butter and 1/2 cup of cheese in a medium bowl. Then combine this with the semolina mixture.
Using a damp knife, spread the mixture onto a surface lined with baking paper and cut out small circles (about 5cm in diameter).
Arrange the circles on the baking dish, slightly overlaping.
Dot them with 1 stick of butter and sprinkle 1 cup of cheese over the top.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until the gnocchi are golden brown.
Enjoy and think of Audrey serving this dish!

This recipe was summarised from the book “Audrey at Home – Memories of my Mother’s Kitchen” by Luca Dotti published in 2015. I am in no way affiliated with the publication.