35. Spaghetti
Put half a pound of spaghetti into boiling water with a good pinch of salt. If you carefully put the spaghetti upright in the saucepan and give them a twist they won’t break. Boil gently, being careful to add boiling water as needed to keep the same amount. It is important never to add cold water as that chills the spaghetti and causes it to become tough. Cook for one hour and meantime prepare the following sauce:
Put six good-sized tomatoes cut in quarters into a saucepan (or a pudding basin may be used in the oven), with one large round of Spanish onion chopped fine, three pieces of loaf sugar, a pinch of salt and pepper, half a bottle of tomato catsup, and an ounce of fresh butter. Stew gently on the side of the stove for three-quarters of an hour. Strain all the water off the spaghetti with the lid, into a salad bowl (or good-sized dish), stir in the tomato sauce which has been strained thoroughly, and serve very hot with some grated cheese in another dish.
36. Risotto
Remove all the fat from a pint of good clear beef or mutton stock and put it on the stove to boil. Wash a teacupful of Patna rice through four waters and put it into the boiling stock and cook for half an hour gently. Chop two thin rashers of bacon into small pieces, add half an onion chopped very finely and put this into the stock while it is boiling. Care should be taken, if the stock is already salted, that very little salt is added. Drain the rice dry and have ready a teacupful of Parmesan and Gruyère cheese (grated) and some good tomato sauce made with skinned tomatoes. Stir the cheese and tomato sauce into the rice in the saucepan and have ready some stone or metal moulds rinsed in cold water but not wiped. Put some of the mixture into each mould and place in a cold place for about two hours. Then put the moulds into the oven with a dish over the top and serve when hot.
37. Cauliflower au Gratin
Remove all the stump of a young cauliflower and boil for fifteen minutes in a large saucepan with a pinch of salt and a small pinch of soda. When cooked, turn it into a cullender and break it into small pieces (not too small) on a flat pie-dish. Take one and a half tablespoonfuls of butter. Have ready half a pint of milk boiling. Turn the boiling milk into the paste and stir well till quite smooth. Put it back in the saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir four good tablespoonfuls of grated Gruyère cheese into the sauce and turn it over the cauliflower in the dish. Dust a little more cheese over it and stand the dish in a quick oven for ten minutes to brown. The browning can also be done with a Salamander.
38. Macaroni au Gratin
Have ready three pints of freshly boiling water with a good pinch of salt in a saucepan for about half a pound of straight macaroni which must be broken up to a convenient size. Macaroni should always be put straight into boiling water. Boil gently for forty minutes to an hour but be careful not to let it boil over, adding boiling water from time to time as the macaroni swells. Strain the water off with the lid, and stir into the saucepan a breakfast-cupful of grated Gruyère cheese (a little grated Parmesan cheese is a great improvement added to the Gruyère). Turn into a stone dish. Dust a little more cheese over the top, put a piece of butter about the size of two good-sized walnuts and place in a quick oven to brown slightly.