For cooking macaroni
One-half pound of macaroni
Salted water for cooking macaroni

For sauce
A small piece of ham fat
One-half of onion
Piece of celery
Parsley
A small piece of carrot
Two or three mushrooms, chopped fine
Two tablespoons of tomato paste, thinned with five tablespoons of hot water (or equal quantity of tomato sauce without water)

For garnish
Two tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
One tablespoon of butter
Bread crumbs

Cold meat of any kind, cut up fine (optional)
One egg, hard boiled, cut into four pieces (optional)

Take a small piece of ham fat, one-half of onion, piece of celery, parsley, small piece of carrot. Chop up fine together. Put into a saucepan, and when the vegetables are fried add two or three mushrooms which have been chopped fine; after five minutes add two tablespoons of tomato paste, thinned with five tablespoons of hot water (or equal quantity of tomato sauce without water). When the sauce is cooked take out the mushrooms and put them on one side. Take one-half pound of macaroni. Boil in salted water for fifteen minutes, drain, and add the sauce described above. Add two tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated, and one tablespoon of butter. Butter well a mold, then cover with a thin layer of bread crumbs the bottom and sides. Pour into the mold one-half the macaroni, then place on it a layer

of mushrooms which you have taken out of the sauce. Now add the other half of the macaroni, and then another thin layer of bread crumbs. Put the mold into the oven without turning it over, and bake in a slow oven until well browned. Then turn out and serve. To this timbale, if desired for variety, cold meat of any kind cut up fine may be added to the sauce; and one egg, hard boiled, and cut into four pieces. Add the egg, and the pieces of meat which you have removed from the sauce, to the timbale at the same time

that you add the mushrooms."

This recipe was taken from "Simple Italian Cookery" written by Antonia Isola (pen name for Mabel Earl McGinnis). It was published in the United States by Harper and Brothers in 1912. It is believed to be the first American cookbook that contains Italian recipes. For the complete copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org. A variety of recipes from this cookbook can also be found on this website....P.S. It is not clear in Isola's cookbook what is meant by "macaroni." Nowadays, the word generally refers to short pasta, but it seems this was not the case in the early part of the 20th century. In one of the recipes ["Macaroni with Tomato Sauce, page 9] in the section of Isola's cookbook that is entitled "Macaroni and Other Pastas" the cookbook author tells the home cook "to break the macaroni" suggesting that the word, "macaroni," refers to long pasta, very likely vermicelli, as the other long pastas such as spaghetti or fettuccine ("ribbon macaroni") are identified by name. While she also has specific recipes for "vermicelli," still she refers to this style of pasta as being "ordinary" macaroni which might indicate that "vermicelli" is a synonym for macaroni, but it's hard to say..... Photo: Mary Melfi.

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