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Neapolitan Macaroni

A macaroni dish with butter, Parmesan cheese, and optional gravy or veal broth.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,163 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Neapolitan Macaroni

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the macaroni

  1. Boil the macaroni quickly in salted water until tender, then drain thoroughly.

  2. Alternatively, boil the macaroni in weak veal-broth until soft.

Season and layer

  1. In a stewpan, combine the macaroni with butter, grated Parmesan cheese, black pepper, and salt. Toss until well mixed.

  2. Transfer to a dish.

  3. If desired, layer the macaroni with seasoned cheese.

  4. Layer with butter and cheese.

  5. Top with additional grated cheese.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour rich brown gravy around it.

  2. Place in a Dutch oven for 30 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. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Pepper + vealtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Butter + vealtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,381 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroni
Forms the bulk of the dish and gives the body that holds the cheese and gravy.
Butter
Adds richness and fat that carries flavor and keeps the pasta from drying out.
Parmesan cheese
Melts into the pasta and adds savory, salty depth to the dish.
Rich brown gravy
Adds moisture and savory meaty flavor around the macaroni.

The step that matters

Drain the macaroni thoroughly. Excess water left on cooked pasta dilutes the butter and cheese, so they coat unevenly and the dish turns watery instead of creamy.

“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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