Put two quarts of water, with a little salt and a small piece of butter
into a stewpan, and when boiling add half a pound of macaroni, which
boil until tender, drain it upon a sieve, and when cold cut it into
pieces a quarter of an inch in length, put them into a stewpan with half
a pint of béchamel sauce, a little cayenne pepper, salt, and grated
nutmeg; let simmer a few minutes until rather thick, stirring it gently
occasionally, then add half a pound of grated Parmesan and Gruyère
cheese (or good common cheese may be used), turn gently a few minutes
longer over the fire, take it off, stir in the yolks of four eggs
quickly, stir another minute over the fire to set the eggs, and pour out
upon a dish until quite cold, then form it into olive-shaped pieces,
rather larger than walnuts, or into pieces of the shape of pears, or
into croquettes two inches long, the thickness of your finger; have
three eggs well beaten upon a plate, into which dip them, roll them
over, then throw them into a dish of bread-crumbs, pat them gently with
your knife, dip again into eggs and bread-crumbs, place them in a wire
basket, and fry in very hot lard; dress them in pyramid upon a napkin,
and serve very hot. If the preparation is well prepared, once
bread-crumbing would be sufficient.
_Macaroni à l’Italienne._
Boil half a pound of macaroni as above, when done lay it on a sieve
to dry for one minute, put it in a pan with four spoonfuls of white
sauce, add half a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter ditto of pepper, a
little cayenne; toss the macaroni over the fire; when boiling, add
two ounces each of grated Parmesan and Gruyère cheese, toss round
and round until well mixed, then serve with a gill of very strong
gravy around it.
_Macaroni au Gratin._
Proceed the same as above, but after you have put the macaroni on
the dish, omit the gravy, and cover it slightly with bread-crumbs,
and about the same quantity of Parmesan cheese, grated, a little
butter over, and then put in a hot oven for a quarter of an hour,
if not hot enough, pass the salamander over it to give it a nice
brownish colour, and serve very hot.
_Macaroni à la Napolitaine._
Boil half a pound of the best quality of macaroni for half an hour
(as at No. 1369), when tender, lay one quarter of it on the dish
you intend to serve, have ready two ounces of grated Parmesan,
which you divide into four parts, to lay over each layer of
macaroni, then put over it two tablespoonfuls of strong gravy, made
of half glaze and consommé; put the dish in the oven for ten
minutes, and serve very hot.
_The real Italian method (called à l’Estoufade)._
Boil and proceed as before, but make the gravy as follows, and use
it instead of the preceding:--Take two pounds of rump of beef,
larded through, put in a small stewpan with one quarter of a pound
of butter, fry gently for one hour, turning almost continually,
when forming a glaze add a pint of broth, let simmer another hour
very gently indeed, take the fat off, and use that gravy instead of
that above described; a little tomato sauce may be introduced if
handy; serve the beef at the same time in a separate dish.