Month: January 2025

Old-Fashioned Macaroni with Spinach

Marcaroni with Spinach

Macaroni with Cheese is the ultimate comfort food, but it can get a little boring. So, when I saw a hundred-year-old recipe that called for adding spinach I decided to give it a try.

The Macaroni with Spinach was tasty – though not creamy like most modern Mac and Cheese recipes. It was not creamy because the old recipe did not call for adding any milk. Because of the lack of liquids, I needed to use care when baking this dish to ensure that the macaroni did not dry out and get hard. I covered the baking dish for most of the time it was in the oven and then removed the cover for the last few minutes to crisp the bread crumb topping.

I had some leftovers when I made this recipe which I carefully put in another dish. I added some milk before reheating which helped keep the macaroni moist.

Here is the original recipe:

Macaroni with Spinach
Source: American Cookery (February, 1925)

Spinach cooks down a great deal, but two pounds of fresh spinach seemed like a lot of spinach when the recipe only called for 1/2 pound of macaroni (about 2 cups of dry macaroni). One pound of spinach would be plenty.  When I made this recipe I substituted a 12-ounce bag of frozen spinach for the fresh spinach. I am not sure why the recipe author called for pressing the spinach through a colander after it was cooked. I tried to do this. (Actually, I pressed it through a Foley mill.) I ended up with a small amount of puree and lots of spinach that wouldn’t go through. I ended up finely chopping the spinach that didn’t go through the mesh and stirring it into the puree. This worked fine, but I realized that if I was going to use all the parts of the spinach that I didn’t need to press it through a colander or Foley mill so I revised the recipe to just indicate that the spinach should be finely chopped.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Macaroni with Spinach

  • Servings: 6 - 8
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

1 pound fresh spinach (or 1 12-ounce bag frozen chopped spinach)

2 cups macaroni

2 cups grated cheese (I used cheddar.)

approximately 1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs (I grated 1 slice of bread.)

1 tablespoon butter

hard-boiled egg for garnish (optional)

tomato slices for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 375◦ F. Wash spinach then put in a large skillet and sauté using medium heat with just the water that clings to the leaves until it wilts. Remove from heat and finely chop. (Alternatively use frozen chopped spinach that has been thawed.)

In the meantime, cook the macaroni following package instructions.

Also, in a small skillet melt the butter. Add the breadcrumbs and stir. Cook until the bread crumbs are just beginning to brown while stirring occasionally (about two minutes).

To assemble the dish put one half of the cooked macaroni in a baking dish. (An 8 X 8 dish or a 1 1/12 quart dish works well). Then put a layer containing one half of the chopped spinach on top of the macaroni. Next add a layer containing one-half of the grated cheese. Repeat the layers with the remainder of the macaroni, spinach, and cheese. Top with the buttered breadcrumbs.

Cover and put in the oven. Bake until hot (about 30-40 minutes.) Remove the lid for the last 10 minutes so that the breadcrumbs will be crispy.

Remove from oven and (if desired) garnish with hard-boiled egg slices and tomato slices.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Billy in Bunbury

Cover of Billy in Bunbury
Cover of Billy in Bunbury (1925)

I am always energized when we ring in a new year. For my blog posts I use recipes from cookbooks that are exactly a hundred years old. I bought several 1925 cookbooks off eBay and am looking forward to exploring them. One of the books I purchased is unique. Billy in Bunbury was published by the Price Baking Powder Company. It is a combination children’s picture book and cookbook.

page from Billy in Bunbury
Source: Billy in Bunbury (1925)

Billy in Bunbury is an enchanting and whimsical story about a town where everything is made of wonderful foods. The streets are made of marble cake and the fences of pie crust. King Hun Bun learns that there is a boy named Billy who lives nearby who is very skinny because he will not eat his meals. Hun Bun tells Billy’s mother to give him “cookies, buns, and cake. And the other things that mothers make.” He also gives her a book with recipes that use Dr. Price’s Baking Powder. He then takes Billy to Bunbury. Billy is awed by the town and the foods in it. Later they return to Billy’s home. Billy’s mother has read the book and will make sure that he gets a treat at each meal. Interspersed throughout the story are recipes for cookies, cakes, doughnuts, and other sweets.

The book is colorful and well written. I feel certain that children a hundred years ago begged their parents to read the story to them repeatedly. That said, I have mixed feelings about this book. I may be looking at it through a modern lens, but it concerns me that children are being encouraged to eat so many sweets. King Hun Bun tells Billy’s mother:

And Madam, ‘stead of coaxing
Boys and girls to eat, ’tis wiser
To add a cake or cooky
As a little appetizer.

The book concludes that Billy (now referred to as Bill) is strong after eating treats with meals, and that readers should also tell their mothers to make treats:

He eats his lunch and breakfast
Each meal he finds a treat
The other fellows watch their step
When Bill comes down the street.

Cakes like he met in Bunbury
His mother makes him now
And if YOU want some too, this book
Will tell YOUR MOTHER how!

If you would like to read this book, it is available online via the Project Gutenberg at Billy in Bunbury.