Skip to main content
Main

Timbales of Macaroni

A baked dish of macaroni layered with forcemeat and blanquette, topped with sauce and garnished.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Chicken and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. The science ↓

Timbales of Macaroni

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the macaroni

  1. Boil 1 pound of macaroni in 2 quarts of water with ½ pound of butter, 8 peppercorns, and a little salt until cooked.

  2. Let it cool and drain on a napkin.

  3. Cut the macaroni into half‑inch lengths.

Build the timbale

  1. Butter the inside of a plain mold.

  2. Cover the bottom of the mold with macaroni, placing them on end.

  3. Add a thick layer of chicken forcemeat.

  4. Line the sides of the mold with more forcemeat.

  5. Smooth it with the back of a spoon dipped in hot water.

  6. Fill the cavity with a blanquette of fowl that has a thick sauce.

  7. Butter a piece of paper.

  8. Spread forcemeat on it.

  9. Smooth it with a hot knife.

  10. Place the paper on top of the timbale.

  11. Invert the paper onto the timbale, leaving it on for easy removal after steaming.

Steam, bake and serve

  1. Place the timbale in a larger stewpan on a ring to prevent it from touching the bottom, ensuring water circulates freely around it.

  2. Cook on the stove for 1 hour.

  3. Transfer to the oven at 350°F (175°C) for an additional 30 minutes to brown the top.

  4. Carefully lift the mold.

  5. Pour supreme sauce over the timbale.

  6. Garnish with truffles and mushrooms.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Chicken + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,172 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).

  2. Truffle + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,900 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  3. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Butter + truffletop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  5. Chicken + truffletop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together756 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Macaroni
Forms the firm, sliced pasta shell that holds the timbale's shape.
Chicken forcemeat
Sets into a smooth, cohesive layer that binds and lines the timbale.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the macaroni cook without sticking together.
Blanquette of fowl
Provides a moist, thickly sauced filling that stays tender during steaming.

The step that matters

Steaming the timbale in a water bath. The timbale must sit on a ring so water circulates freely and it never touches the bottom. Direct contact can scorch the base, while gentle, even heat lets the forcemeat set smoothly and the filling cook through.

“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.

You might also like

Chicken BrothChicken Broth257 recipesChicken SoupChicken Soup156 recipesCreamed ChickenCreamed Chicken89 recipesChicken PanadaChicken Panada75 recipes