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Macaroni, Au Gratin
Boil one pound of macaroni, and when done cut into three-inch lengths, put into a stewpan with three-quarters of a pound of grated Parmesan cheese, four ounces of fresh butter, and a good large spoonful of Bechamel sauce; season with pepper and salt, tossing the whole together over the fire until well mixed; then pile it up in the center of a border of fried croutons of bread (previously stuck round the bottom of the dish); strew the surface with bread crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese, in equal proportions; drop a little melted butter over the top of the macaroni, and then put it in the oven and bake it a bright yellow, and serve very hot.
A gratin in the older French manner: the sauce is a seasoning rather than a binder, so the dish depends on cheese and butter, not on a thick white sauce. Two things need attention before you start — the pasta shape and the amount of Parmesan.
- The macaroni is long, not elbowsCutting into three-inch lengths only makes sense with the long straight tubes sold in the period. Use bucatini, ziti lunghi, or perciatelli; snapped or cut after boiling they hold the pile shape. Modern elbow macaroni works but gives a looser mound.
- Cook the pasta shortPeriod instructions to boil macaroni "until done" often meant softer than modern taste prefers. Since this goes into a hot oven afterwards, drain it a minute or two before it reaches al dente or the finished gratin will be mushy.
- Three-quarters of a pound of ParmesanThat is 12 oz of grated cheese to 1 lb of dry pasta — roughly four cups, and far more than a modern mac and cheese. It is not a misprint, but 6 to 8 oz makes a dish most people will find better balanced.
- "A good large spoonful of Bechamel"Read this as a generous tablespoon or two of a fairly thick white sauce — enough to lubricate, not to coat. The dish is meant to be buttery and cheesy rather than creamy. If you want a saucier gratin, use more and accept that it is no longer this recipe.
- Salt with careTwelve ounces of Parmesan brings a great deal of salt on its own. Season the pan at the end, after tossing, and taste first.
- The crouton borderCubes or triangles of bread fried in butter, pressed round the inside rim of the dish before the macaroni goes in, as the recipe directs. They soften in the oven, so serve promptly or they turn to sponge.
- Oven heat"Bake it a bright yellow" means browning the top, not cooking the dish through — everything is already hot. Use 425F for 10 to 15 minutes, or run it under a broiler for 3 to 4 minutes, watching it, since Parmesan and crumbs scorch fast.
- YieldA pound of pasta with this quantity of cheese and butter serves six to eight as a side, four as a main. It is very rich; smaller portions than you would give a modern baked macaroni.
Macaroni au gratin sits at the meeting point of two traditions: Italian pasta with grated cheese, and the French gratin, a word conventionally traced to gratter, the scrapings, and generally understood to refer to the browned crust rather than any particular baking dish. The technique of piling the macaroni inside a ring of fried bread croutons is pure nineteenth-century service cookery, the kind of plating found in the manuals of the period and carried into English and American household books by way of chefs such as Francatelli and Soyer. The heavy hand with Parmesan is also of its time: imported grating cheese was a luxury flavoring, and a recipe that called for three-quarters of a pound of it was announcing that this was a dish for company.