The encyclopaedia of practical cookery

Macaroni with Cockles. — Peel a quantity of tomatoes, cut them in slices, and remove the seeds ; put them in a stewpan with a peeled clove of garlic, and keep simmering gently at the side of the fire for two hours, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper, mix in 2 table-spoonfuls of olive oil, and boil for ten minutes longer ; then mix with it 1 table-spoonful of finely-minced parsley. Put plenty of cockles in a saucepan, place over a brisk fire until their shells open, then pick them out, strain the liquor of the cockles through a piece of muslin, and mix it and the cockles with the tomatoes. Have ready boiled 1 lb. of Macaroni, place it on a hot dish, pour the tomatoes and cockles over it, mix well with a fork, and serve. • Macaroni Croquettes. — (1) Boil 8oz. of Macaroni until tender in a. saucepan containing salted water, drain, and put it in a stewpan with 5oz. of butter, 3oz. of grated Parmesan cheese, a few table-spoonfuls of pickled tongue cut in small pieces, and the same quantity of truffles. When these are all cooked and well mixed, pour out into a well-buttered saute-pan to about lin. in thickness. Cover with paper, place a weight on the top, and when cool cut it into rounds about lin. in diameter ; roll them in more grated Parmesan cheese, dip in well-beaten egg and then in breadcrumbs, and fry in a little butter until of a light brown colour. Take them out, drain, put in a pile on an ornamental dish-paper laid over a dish (see Fig. 1 105), and serve. (2) Put 1 pint of cold cooked Macaroni into a saucepan, and warm it up together with a little thick white sauce ; when hot, add 2 table-spoonfuls of grated cheese and Macaroni — continued. the well-beaten yolk of an egg, with salt and pepper to taste. Let it cool, and shape it into rolls ; put them in crumbs, egg and then breadcrumb them again, fry in hot fat until done, then serve. Macaroni with Game.— Put 1 lb. of Macaroni into a stewpan with 3 breakfast-cupfuls of stock and any required spices, and cook for an hour or so. When done, add 1 teacupful of red wine, 1 table spoonful of any kind of jelly, and two or three slices of lemon; mix well, then add 1 lb. of finely-minced game, warm them all up together, sprinkle over 4oz. of grated Parmesan cheese, brown in the oven or with a salamander, and serve quickly. Macaroni with Gravy.— Prepare a little veal gravy, skim off the fat, and mix it with a few table-spoonfuls of tomato sauce, a little raw ham, a small bunch of sweet herbs, and a small quantity of pepper. Set this on the side of the fire where it will simmer gently until wanted. In the meantime, boil some Macaroni in a little salted water ; when tender, drain, and before it gets cold take up small quantities with a skimmer and put them in layers in a deep dish. Cover each layer with grated Parmesan cheese, moisten with a little of the gravy strained through a strainer and mixed with a little butter, and serve very hot. If the gravy is too thin, thicken it with a little meat glaze. Macaroni with Ham. Put 2oz. of Macaroni broken in pieces in a saucepan with 1 pint of highly-seasoned stock, and boil until quite tender ; add a little butter, salt, and pepper, and turn it out on to a dish with 2oz. of minced cooked fat ham or streaky bacon, sprinkle a few fried breadcrumbs over, and serve.