Macaroni is one of the most important of cereal foods. The best—Italian—is made from a wheat rich in gluten, so to a great extent it supplies the place of meat.

One of the first things we do when we go into a new place is to hunt up an Italian macaroni store, as that is the only place where the genuine article is to be found. That made in this country, put up with a foreign label on the package, is inferior.

The Italian pastes come in a great variety of shapes and are named according to the shape. Macaroni, spaghetti and vermicelli are well known; then there are lasagne (broad and flat), rigatoni (large corrugated), da natali, ditali rigati, cannaroni rigati and reginnetti with mostacioli bianchi, soprafini (fine vermicelli), ditalini and acini di pepe—a few of the many. There are some small fine pastes put up in dainty boxes, especially for invalids, that are very delicate and digestible.

Those who have visited macaroni factories in Italy where macaroni is made for exportation, say that everything in connection with the food is neat and clean and that the macaroni is dried in closed rooms entirely removed from the dust of the street. That which travellers see drying by the roadside, exposed to the dust, is from small or private factories for home consumption.

To Cook Macaroni

Do not wash or soak it. Break it when necessary and put into perfectly boiling salted water, 8 parts water to 1 of macaroni. Stir as soon as it is put into the water and often, until it begins to roll up, from the rapid boiling. Keep over a hot fire where it will continue to roll in boiling until well swollen and nearly done, then set back to simmer slowly. When perfectly tender (which will be in from ½ to 1 hour according to the size, age and quality, the better quality taking longer) turn into a colander and when drained, turn cold water over it, or, let it stand in cold water until ready to use.

Vermicelli and the other small varieties for soup require only twice their bulk of water, and some of them require 10 m. only for cooking. They will usually just absorb the water.

When preferred, macaroni may be cooked in just the amount of liquid it will absorb, which will be about 4 times its bulk. It may be cooked sometimes in a rich consommÉ, sometimes in milk in a double boiler, or in milk and water. It is often partly cooked in water, drained and finished in milk.

The “traditional” way of cooking spaghetti is to put the ends into water and coil it around in the kettle as it softens, cooking in full lengths and eating it the same, but the propriety of this method is questionable. In the first place, its sauce is apt to spatter in the effort to introduce the coil into the mouth, and mastication is sure to be incomplete.

The measurements of macaroni vary according to the size. For a large open variety, a cup and a half will be required where it would take only a cup of a small kind, or of the ordinary pipe-stem macaroni broken into inch lengths.

There is nothing that gives such character to macaroni as to cook a little garlic with it, a very little for some tastes, not more than ½ a clove to each cupful, less even, if the macaroni is not to be drained and the cloves are large. We seldom cook any preparation of macaroni without it, and people wonder why our macaroni has such a good taste. Not enough should be used to give a positive garlic flavor.

Pine nuts and sour cream give the cheese flavor. A good quality of macaroni is good without any sauce, just cooked in salted water and eaten slowly with nuts; but it may be served with any desired, tasty sauce. The mushroom sauces, Italian or Boundary Castle are especially delightful with it, but many others are excellent, olive and nut butter, old-fashioned milk gravy, lentil gravy, a good cream sauce, cream of tomato sauce, or any of the nice, meaty flavored sauces, or parsley butter.

Sometimes return macaroni to the fire after draining, and add a little butter, with or without chopped parsley, for those who use butter, or a little milk and butter or a few spoonfuls of cream. Then another time, put this cream or butter macaroni into a vegetable dish and pour a few hot stewed tomatoes over it.

Baked Macaroni in Cream Sauce

• 1–1½ cup macaroni, according to size
• 2 small onions
• 1–2 small cloves of garlic
• 1 qt. water
• 1½–2 teaspns. salt

• 1½ tablespn. oil
• 1½ tablespn. flour
• 1 large pt. milk
• salt, crumbs
• chopped parsley

Make cream sauce in the usual way with the oil, flour, salt and milk and pour into baking dish, turn into it the macaroni which has been cooked in the salted water with sliced onion and garlic until tender and the water absorbed, and press down into the sauce; sprinkle with crumbs and parsley and bake in moderate oven until bubbling and delicately browned. If preferred, ¼ cup of flour may be used in the sauce.

Make enough of this dish for two days, and another day stir salted tomato into what is left and bake as before for Macaroni in Tomato Sauce.

Macaroni—Pine Nuts

Add ½ cup of pine nut butter or meal to the sauce in the preceding recipe (by mixing a little of the sauce with it) and sprinkle with chopped meats and crumbs.

Macaroni—Corn

• ¾–1 cup macaroni
• 3 cups boiling water
• 1–1½ teaspn. salt
• 1 small onion
• ½–1 small clove of garlic if wished
• 1 cup canned, or stewed fresh corn

• 1 cup rich milk or thin cream
• ½ tablespn. flour
• ½ teaspn. salt

Add corn and cooked macaroni to sauce, turn all into baking dish, sprinkle with crumbs and pour a little melted butter over if sauce is made with milk. Brown in oven.

Browned Macaroni and Granella

1 cup macaroni, ¾–1 cup granella, 3 cups rich milk (more if necessary). Dry and delicately brown macaroni in oven and cook the same as unbrowned. Put into baking dish in layers with granella, turn milk, slightly salted, over and heat in moderate oven. It should be quite moist when done. Unless the milk is about one-fourth cream, there may be a little oil or butter poured over the top.

Macaroni—Tomato and Onion

Simmer onion in oil or butter, add stewed tomatoes and salt; simmer a few minutes and add cooked macaroni; set back where it will heat slowly for a short time and serve.

Tomatoes, onions and macaroni may be put into baking dish in layers, with a sprinkling of pine nut meal; with tomatoes, crumbs and chopped nuts on top, and baked.

Vermicelli—Asparagus

Cook vermicelli in salted water, drain, spread on platter, lay stalks of cooked asparagus on it and pour egg cream sauce over. Cut asparagus into inch lengths if preferred.

Macaroni in Milk

Heat 1 qt. of milk in inner cup of double boiler, add 1 cup of macaroni and cook until tender, perhaps for 2 hrs. Serve plain as side dish or for luncheon or supper. It may also be served with stewed raisins, with or without cream.

? Cream Mold of Macaroni

Cook ½ cup of macaroni with or without a few slices of onion and a suspicion of garlic, in 2 cups of water with ½ tablespn. of butter until tender and well dried out; drain, add ? cup milk, 1 large egg and salt. Turn into well buttered mold and bake covered in pan of water in moderate oven until egg is set, ¾–1 hour. Serve with Boundary Castle or any suitable sauce.

? Macaroni—Sour Cream

• 2–3 cups macaroni
• 1 pt. sour cream (or sour milk with butter or oil)
• 1 teaspn. salt
• 1 egg

Add beaten egg and salt to cream and pour over cooked macaroni in baking dish; sprinkle with crumbs and bake until egg is set.

Rice may be used in place of macaroni, tomato also may be added sometimes with chopped onion; a delicate flavoring of sage gives another variety.