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Macaroni with Tomatoes
Boil 4 ounces of macaroni, put in veal broth instead of water. Skin 4 fine fresh mutton kidneys, fry them lightly in butter, lift them from the stewpan, and mince them finely. Make a gravy in the same pan, adding a dessertspoonful of brown flour, half a pint of rich gravy, a couple of shallots, minced, and a pinch of cayenne. Stew the minced kidneys in this gravy for ten minutes, when part of the macaroni, which should have been kept warm, may be mixed and tossed in the pan for a few minutes to absorb the gravy. Serve turned out on a hot dish, arrange the remainder of the macaroni on the top, and pour hot tomato sauce over. Time, one hour to prepare.
A Victorian macaroni dish in which the pasta is only half the story: minced kidney in a brown gravy forms the base, with more macaroni and tomato sauce over the top. Two things decide whether it works — the kidneys must be trimmed properly, and the macaroni must be drained while still firm.
- Kidneys firstMutton kidneys come from adult sheep and are stronger than lamb kidneys, which are the usual modern substitute; ask a butcher, as supermarkets often do not carry them. Halve them, pull off the membrane and cut out the white core and any fat, or the gravy can take on a harsh, ammoniacal edge.
- Don't overcook themKidney is fried lightly, minced, then stewed ten minutes in the gravy — that is already the upper limit. Past that they turn granular and hard, so treat the ten minutes as a maximum rather than a target.
- MeasuresA dessertspoonful is about 2 teaspoons. Half a pint of gravy is one cup in US measure, or 10 fl oz if you are following the British imperial pint of the period. Four ounces of dry macaroni is roughly one cup, or a little over.
- Brown flourFlour toasted dry in a pan or a low oven until nut-coloured, used as a thickener that darkens a sauce without a long-cooked roux. Stir it constantly and stop while it still smells sweet; scorched flour is bitter and cannot be rescued.
- Boiling in brothCooking the macaroni in veal broth rather than water is the point of the instruction, not a flourish — the pasta carries seasoning into the finished dish. Any light unsalted veal or chicken stock does the job; season it as you would pasta water.
- Cook it firmNineteenth-century macaroni was often boiled very soft, but this pasta gets tossed again in gravy at the end. Drain it a minute or two short so it can absorb sauce without collapsing.
- The tomato sauceNone is given here, so use a plain cooked tomato sauce, thin enough to pour and sharp rather than sweet. Have it hot and ready before you start the kidneys, since the assembly happens quickly.
- YieldFour ounces of macaroni and four kidneys serve two generously or three as a light course. The hour quoted is honest if you count trimming the kidneys and browning the flour.