Macaroni Rice Polenta And Other Italian Pastes

Macaroni with Tomatoes

Ingredients: Macaroni, tomatoes, butter, onion, basil, pepper, salt.

Fry half an onion slightly in butter, and as soon as it is coloured add a puree of two big cooked tomatoes. Then boil quarter of a pound of macaroni separately, drain it and put it in a deep fireproof dish, add the tomato puree and three tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan and Cheddar mixed, and cook gently for a quarter of an hour before serving. This dish may be made with vermicelli, spaghetti, or any other Italian paste.

Macaroni alla Casalinga

Ingredients: Macaroni, butter, stock, cheese, water, salt, nutmeg.

Cut up a quarter pound of macaroni in small pieces and put it in boiling salted water. When sufficiently cooked, drain and put it into a saucepan with two ounces of butter, add good gravy or stock, three tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan and Cheddar mixed, and a tiny pinch of nutmeg. Stir over a brisk fire, and serve very hot.

Macaroni al Sughillo

Ingredients: Macaroni, stock, tomatoes, sausage, cheese.

Half cook four ounces of macaroni, drain it and put it in layers in a fireproof dish, and gradually add good beef gravy, four tablespoonsful of tomato puree, and thin slices of sausage. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and Cheddar, and cook for about twenty minutes. Before serving pass the salamander over the top to brown the macaroni.

Macaroni alla Livornese

Ingredients: Macaroni, mushrooms, tomatoes, Parmesan, butter, pepper, salt, milk.

Boil about four ounces of macaroni, and stew four or five mushrooms in milk with pepper and salt. Put a layer of the macaroni in a buttered fireproof dish, then a layer of tomato puree, then a layer of the mushrooms and another layer of macaroni. Dust it all over with grated Parmesan and Cheddar, put it in the oven for half an hour, and serve very hot.

Tagliarelle and Lobster

Ingredients: Tagliarelle, lobster, cheese, butter.

Boil half a pound of tagliarelle, and cut up a quarter of a pound of lobster. Butter a fireproof dish, and strew it well with grated Parmesan and Cheddar mixed, then put in the tagliarelle and lobster in layers, and between each layer add a little butter. Strew grated cheese over the top, put it in the oven for twenty minutes, and brown the top with a salamander.

Polenta

Polenta is made of ground Indian-corn, and may be used either as a separate dish or as a garnish for roast meat, pigeons, fowl, &c. It is made like porridge; gradually drop the meal with one hand into boiling stock or water, and stir continually with a wooden spoon with the other hand. In about a quarter of an hour it will be quite thick and smooth, then add a little butter and grated Parmesan, and one egg beaten up. Let it get cold, then put it in layers in a baking-dish, add a little butter to each layer, sprinkle with plenty of Parmesan, and bake it for about an hour in a slow oven. Serve hot.

Polenta Pasticciata

Ingredients: Polenta, butter, cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes.

Prepare a good polenta as above, put it in layers in a fireproof dish, and add by degrees one and a half ounces of melted butter, two cooked mushrooms cut up, and two tablespoonsful of grated cheese. (If you like, you may add a good-sized tomato mashed up.) Put the dish in the oven, and before serving brown it over with salamander.