A cup of rice soft
Hot water
A little milk
A beaten egg
One teaspoon of butter
A little pepper and salt
The yolk of a beaten egg
Seven or eight tomatoes
Pepper
A little salt and sugar
One-half of a chopped-up onion
One tablespoon of butter
Two tablespoons of fine breadcrumbs

"Boil a cup of rice soft in hot water. Shake it now and then, but do not stir it. Drain it, add a little milk in which a beaten egg has been mixed, one teaspoon of butter, and a little pepper and salt. Simmer for five minutes, and if the rice has not absorbed all the milk, drain it again. Put the rice around a dish, smooth it into a wall, wash it over with the yolk of a beaten egg, and put it into the

oven until firm. Take the strained juice and pulp of seven or eight tomatoes, season with pepper, a little salt and sugar, and one-half of a chopped-up onion; stew for twenty minutes, then stir in one tablespoon of butter and two tablespoons of fine bread crumbs. Stew three or four minutes to thicken, and then pour the tomatoes into the dish, in the middle of the rice, and serve."

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.... Photo: Mary Melfi.

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