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Macaroni Au Tomato
Mrs. Bendelari.
Throw one pound of macaroni into a preserving kettle half filled with boiling water, (be sure that the water is boiling), and a small teaspoon of salt. Let it boil for about twenty minutes, or until it is tender; then drain in a colander before putting on a dish. Have about two tablespoons of cheese grated and sprinkle over it, then pour over a tomato sauce which has been strained, and made as follows: Two hours before the macaroni is put on the fire, take a quart of canned or fresh tomatoes, and put in a saucepan with a little salt and pepper, half a small onion, a teaspoon of parsley cut fine, a piece of lard the size of an egg. Let it boil slowly for two hours; if it gets too dry add a few spoonsful of water.
A plain tomato sauce and boiled macaroni, from an era when both were still slightly exotic in American kitchens. Two instructions need adjusting: the pasta time and the fat.
- The twenty-minute boilNineteenth-century macaroni was generally a thicker, harder product than today's and was commonly cooked far longer. Modern dried elbows or ziti are done in 8-10 minutes; check the box and start tasting two minutes early.
- Preserving kettleA large, wide pot, typically brass, copper or enamelled ware; sizes varied considerably. Any stockpot holding at least 4 quarts of water for a pound of pasta will do.
- A piece of lard the size of an eggAbout 2 ounces, or a scant quarter cup. Butter or olive oil works in its place; olive oil in particular is closer to what the sauce became in later Italian-American practice.
- Straining the sauceThe point of the two-hour simmer plus straining is a smooth, concentrated sauce with the onion and parsley cooked out of it. Press it through a sieve rather than blending, which would fold the skins and seeds back in.
- Salt the pasta water properlyA small teaspoon for a whole kettle is far less than modern practice. Use about a tablespoon of salt per 4 quarts.
- CheeseTwo tablespoons for a pound of macaroni is a token dusting by today's standards. The recipe does not say which cheese; a grated Parmesan or other dry aged cheese suits it. Use as much as you like, and add more at the table.
- Order of assemblyDrain well, dish, cheese, then sauce over the top. The recipe does not toss everything together, but tossing will not hurt.
- YieldA pound of macaroni with a quart of tomatoes serves four to six as a main dish.
The Home Cook Book (Chicago) was compiled from contributions by named local women, which is why this appears under Mrs. Bendelari rather than as an anonymous formula. Macaroni was sold in American groceries through the middle of the century, usually imported and often treated as a delicate side dish baked in cream or milk with cheese; a long-simmered strained tomato sauce, finished with grated cheese, points instead toward Italian household cooking, and the name Bendelari suggests exactly that connection. The two-hour reduction with onion, parsley and a lump of fat is the ancestor of the all-afternoon Sunday sauce, and the insistence that the water be truly boiling before the pasta goes in is a note any Italian cook would recognize. Canned tomatoes appear here as an unremarkable alternative to fresh.