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Hash and Macaroni

A baked hash of macaroni, tomatoes, and cooked meat, topped with breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,438 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Hash and Macaroni

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Break the macaroni into 1‑inch lengths and place it in a saucepan.

  2. Barely cover the macaroni with boiling water and stew for 20 minutes.

  3. While the macaroni cooks, hash the meat and chop the tomatoes, aiming for nearly as much tomato as meat.

  4. Drain the macaroni, saving the cooking water.

Assemble and bake

  1. In an earthen dish, layer the tomatoes, meat, and macaroni in that order.

  2. Moisten the meat with cold gravy, or if using bones, simmer them in cold water for 30 minutes, strain the liquid, and use it to moisten the meat.

  3. Pour the reserved macaroni water over the layers.

  4. If the dish is too moist, sprinkle with breadcrumbs or crushed crackers.

  5. Cover and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 40 to 50 minutes.

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. Tomato + meattop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,438 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroni
Forms the starchy body of the dish and absorbs liquid as it stews and bakes.
Chopped tomatoes
Add moisture and acidity that keep the layers juicy and flavourful.
Chopped cooked meat
Provides the savoury, protein-rich core of the hash.
Cold gravy
Adds moisture and savoury depth to the meat layer.
Fine dry breadcrumbs or rolled crackers
Absorb excess moisture so the hash holds together rather than turning soggy.

The step that matters

Assembling and adding the reserved macaroni water. Liquid must be balanced against the dry crumbs and absorbent macaroni. Too much moisture makes the hash soggy and loose, so the breadcrumbs are added only if the dish looks wet.

“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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