POLENTA PASTICCIATA
(Italian)
Three-quarters of a cup of Indian meal and 1 quart of milk.
Boil the milk, and add the Indian meal, a little at a time, when milk is boiling. Cook for one-half an hour, stirring constantly. Add salt just before taking off the fire. The Indian meal should be stiff when finished. Turn it onto the bread-board, and spread it out to the thickness of two fingers. While it is cooking prepare a meat sauce, and a Béchamel sauce as follows:
MEAT SAUCE
Take a small piece of beef, a small piece of ham, fat and lean, 1 tablespoon of butter, a small piece of onion, a small piece of carrot, a small piece of celery, a pinch of flour, ½ cup of bouillon (or water), pepper. Cut the meat into small dice; chop up fine together the ham, onion, carrot, and celery. Put these into a saucepan with the butter, and when the meat is brown, add the pinch of flour, and the bouillon a little at a time, and cook for about one-half an hour. This sauce should not be strained.
BÉCHAMEL SAUCE
Take 1 tablespoon of flour, and 1½ tablespoon of butter. Put them into a saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon until they have become a golden-brown colour. Then add, a little at a time, 1 pint milk; stir constantly until the sauce is as thick as custard, and is white in colour.