Ingredients
Macaroni, 12 ounces
Sweet-breads, 5 ounces
Butter, 2 ounces
Truffles, 2 1/2 ounces
Ham, 1 ounce
A handful of dry mushrooms
Liver and kidneys of 3 or 4 chickens, together with their crests and eggs
Flavor of nutmeg
Parmesan, 6 ounces
Crust dough (314A)
Flour, 17 oz.
White sugar, a little over 7 oz.
Butter, less than 6 oz.
Lard, less than 2 oz.
Eggs, 2
Egg yolk, 1
Beef gravy No. 4 (Salt pork & onion fried; beef seared,then water added until beef tender; sauce strained)
Slices of salt pork or dry meat (used to fry onion)
Slices of lean beef meat
1 big onion
A carrot
Spring of celery
Butter
Salt
Two pinches of clove
Water
Directions
The cooks of Romagna are experts in preparing this costly and rather complicated dish. It is an excellent course if carefully prepared, and is popular in Romagna during carnival time.
The best style of macaroni for this pie is the long Neapolitan type with a hole length-wise, because it absorbs abundant gravy.
Boil the macaroni in salt water until they are half done; remove them dry and place them in beef gravy (No. 4).
Allow them to absorb the gravy cooking slowly on a low fire.
In the meantime prepare the following sauce: Place a spoonful of flour with a piece of butter as large as an egg on the fire. Mix the flour well in the melting butter, and when light brown, pour in a pint of milk, a little at a time. Stir steadily till it is condensed into a milky cream-like liquid. If this sauce is too thick, thin it by replacing it on the fire with another piece of butter mixed with flour.
Cook the chicken livers in butter, adding sufficient gravy gradually. season with salt and pepper.
Cut the sweet-breads into pieces of one inch and cook; add the ham sliced thinly together with the truffles, also sliced in the same way.
Soak the dry mushrooms in warm water, add flavor of nutmeg and mix all these ingredients together.
You should have ready the crust dough as directed in recipe No. 341A, with the flavor of lemon rind added.
Fill the pie as follows: Smear as large a dish as you need with butter; remove the superfluous gravy from the macaroni and place the first layer in your dish, seasoning it with grated Parmesan cheese, a piece of butter here and there, a spoonful of white sauce and the other ingredients.
Repeat the operation till you have filled the dish.
Roll the crust dough to the thickness of a silver dollar coin, first with a smooth rolling pin, then with a grooved one, and cover the stuffing down to the bottom with the dough.
Cut dough strips 1 1/2 inches wide and as long as necessary, and place them cross-wise on top.
Place a strip, as wide as the depth of the dish, around the stuffing, and if you have a taste for fancy decoration, do your best at it with the remainder of the dough.
Gild the entire surface with beaten egg and place it in the oven to bake.
Serve this dish while hot.
Notes
This recipe (#215) was taken from "The Italian Cook Book" adapted from the Italian of Pellegrino Artusi by Olga Ragusa. It was published by S.F. Vanni in New York in 1945. For the complete copyright cook book see www.archive.org. Image -- Edgar Degas: Femmes devant un cafe, le soir, 1877. |
