Skip to content

Spaghetti or Macaroni with Butter and Cheese

A historical recipe from The Italian Cook Book The Art of Eating Well, by Maria Gentile (1919).

No ratings yet

A historical recipe

The Italian Cook Book The Art of Eating Well; Practical Recipes of the Italian Cuisine, Pastries, Sweets, Frozen Delicacies, and Syrups, by Maria Gentile (1919). Project Gutenberg eBook #24407.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.

Italy

Known as an Italian recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.

Method

  1. This is the simplest form in which the spaghetti may be served, and it is generally reserved for the thickest paste.
  2. The spaghetti are to be boiled until tender in salted water, taking care to remove them when tender, and not cooked until they lose form.
  3. They should not be put into the water until this is at a boiling point.
  4. Take as much macaroni as will half fill the dish in which it is to be served.
  5. Break into pieces two and a half to three inches long if you so desire.
  6. The Italians leave them unbroken, but their skill in turning them around the fork and eating them is not the privilege of everybody.
  7. Put the macaroni into salted boiling water, and boil twelve to fifteen minutes, or until the macaroni is perfectly soft.
  8. Stir frequently to prevent the macaroni from adhering to the bottom.
  9. Turn it into a colander to drain;
  10. then put it into a pudding-dish with a generous quantity of butter and grated cheese.
  11. If more cheese is liked, it can be brought to the table so that the guests can help themselves to it.
  12. The macaroni called "Mezzani" which is a name designating size, not quality, is the preferable kind for macaroni dishes made with butter and cheese.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Saucepan
  • Grater
  • Wooden spoon
  • Spatula
  • Colander
Source Public domain in the USA
Credit

From The Italian Cook Book The Art of Eating Well, by Maria Gentile (1919). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #24407 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24407). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.