Macaroni is usually broken into pieces about an inch in length and is cooked - without blanching - in rapidly boiling water. When tender drain and rinse in cold water, then drain again. The cold water washes away the pasty exterior that would otherwise cause the pieces to stick together.

Turkish Pilaf

1 cup of rice

1½ cups of stock (hot)

1 cup of tomato puree

1 teaspoonful of salt

½ teaspoonful of paprika

½ cup of butter

Blanch the rice, add the stock, puree, salt and pepper and let cook until the rice is tender; add the butter and mix through the rice with a silver fork.

Creamed Macaroni Au Gratin

Boil three-fourths a cup of macaroni, broken in pieces an inch in length, in boiling salted water, until tender; drain, rinse in cold water and drain again. Make a sauce of two tablespoonfuls, each, of butter and flour, one-fourth a teaspoonful, each, of salt and pepper and a cup of rich milk. Mix the macaroni through the sauce, mixing in, at the same time, half a cup or more of grated cheese. Turn into a shallow dish, cover with half a cup of cracker crumbs, mixed with three tablespoonfuls of melted butter, and let brown in the oven.

Macaroni A La Reine

Cook and blanch three-fourths a cup of macaroni, broken in inch-lengths. Scald one cup of rich cream; stir into it two tablespoonfuls of butter and one-fourth a pound of cheese, grated or cut into exceedingly thin slices. When smooth add one-fourth a teaspoonful of salt and half a teaspoonful of paprika and pour it over the macaroni, which has been turned into a shallow baking dish. Have ready a scant cup of three-eighths-an-inch cubes of bread fried delicately in a little butter or olive oil. Sprinkle these over the macaroni. Serve very hot.

Milanaise Or Savory Macaroni

Cook the macaroni in the usual manner. Cook half an onion, cut in slices, and half a green or red pepper, in three tablespoonfuls of butter until lightly browned; add about a cup and a half of tomato and let simmer until well reduced. Press through a sieve. There should be a generous cup of the pulp. Make a sauce of two tablespoonfuls, each, of butter and flour, one-fourth a teaspoonful of salt and the prepared tomato; add half a cup or more of grated cheese. When the cheese is melted, pour the sauce over the cooked macaroni and lift with two forks, to mix together thoroughly. Let stand over hot water to become very hot. Sprinkle with a tablespoonful of fine-chopped parsley. When convenient fine-chopped or diced ham or pickled tongue may be mixed through the dish or broth may replace a part of the tomato puree.

Macaroni, "Mere Man" Style

Chop fine and separately three small onions and two thin slices of salt pork. Cook these together in a frying-pan until nicely browned, then add half a pound of raw beef (top of the round), chopped fine, one-fourth a teaspoonful of nutmeg, and one-fourth a teaspoonful of salt. Dissolve one-fourth a cup of tomato paste (found at Italian stores, the same quantity of well-reduced tomato puree may be used) in half a cup of claret wine, and add to the meat mixture. Have ready a scant quarter pound of hot, cooked spaghetti, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese (use from two tablespoonfuls to three-fourths a cup of cheese according to taste), and over it pour the cooked mixture. Lift the spaghetti with fork and spoon, until the mixture is evenly mixed through it, then serve at once.

For macaroni and rice croquettes see Chapter VI.