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Macaroni and Cheese

A baked macaroni and cheese casserole with layers of pasta, cheese, butter, salt, and cracker crumbs, finished with cream or milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 3 ingredients
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Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the macaroni

  1. Break half a pound of macaroni into pieces an inch or two long.

  2. Cook the macaroni in boiling water, enough to cover it well, with a good teaspoonful of salt, for about twenty minutes.

  3. Drain the macaroni well.

Assemble the dish

  1. Put a layer of the drained macaroni in the bottom of a well-buttered pudding dish.

  2. On top of that layer, add some grated cheese, small pieces of butter, a bit of salt, then more macaroni, and continue layering until the dish is filled.

  3. Sprinkle the top layer with a thick layer of cracker crumbs.

  4. Pour a teacupful of cream or milk over the whole.

Bake and serve

  1. Set the dish in the oven and bake for half an hour, until nicely browned on top.

  2. Serve in the same dish in which it was baked, with a clean napkin pinned around it.

By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Macaroni
Forms the bulk and structure of the dish, holding the layers together when baked.
Grated cheese (in the method)
Melts into the macaroni and cream, adding richness, flavour and a creamy texture.
Cream or milk (in the method)
Provides moisture that softens the pasta and forms a custard-like sauce as it bakes.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat for richness and helps the top brown during baking.
Cracker crumbs (in the method)
Form a crisp, browned topping that contrasts with the soft layers below.

The step that matters

Baking until nicely browned on top. Baking long enough lets the cream thicken and set around the pasta and cheese, while the crumb topping browns. Underbaking leaves the dish loose and pale; overbaking can dry it out.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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