Chapter XVIII: Vegetables and Farinaceous Products (3)

Boil one pint of milk with one-fifth oz. of salt; sprinkle on it two oz. of maize flour; mix well; cover, and cook in a mild oven for twenty-five minutes.

Then transfer the paste to another saucepan; work it with one and one-half oz. of butter and as much grated Parmesan; mix therewith one egg, two egg-yolks, and the whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth.

Dish in a buttered timbale; sprinkle with grated cheese, and cook like an ordinary _soufflé_.

2295a—SOUFFLÉ AU PARMESAN

Mix one lb. of flour and two and one-half pints of milk in a saucepan. Add a little salt, pepper and nutmeg, and set the preparation to boil, stirring it constantly the while.

As soon as the boil is reached, take the saucepan off the fire, and add one lb. of grated Parmesan, three oz. of butter, and ten egg-yolks. Rub the whole through tammy and then combine with it the whites of ten eggs whisked to a stiff froth.

Mould in a silver timbale, lined with a band of buttered paper, and bake in the oven for from twenty to twenty-five minutes.

2296—RAVIOLI

Whatever be their garnish, _ravioli_ are always prepared in the same way. The stuffings given below represent the most usual forms of garnish.

STUFFING A

Mix one-half lb. of finely-chopped, cooked chicken-meat; five oz. of cooked and crushed brains; three oz. of pressed white cheese; three oz. of chopped, pressed and _blanched_ spinach; three oz. of parboiled green borage; a pinch of green sweet basil; five oz. of grated Parmesan; two eggs; two egg-yolks; salt, pepper and nutmeg.

STUFFING B

Mix two-thirds lb. of well-cooked, cold and finely-chopped daube of beef; two-thirds lb. of parboiled, pressed, and chopped spinach; one oz. of chopped shallots; five oz. of a purée of cooked brain; two whole eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

STUFFING C

Toss one-half lb. of chickens’ livers in butter; add to it two chopped shallots, a pinch of parsley, and a little crushed garlic. Finely pound the livers, and add successively one-half lb. of parboiled, cooled and fresh spinach; two anchovy fillets; three oz. of butter; three eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a pinch of sweet basil. Rub the whole through a sieve.

2297—THE PREPARATION OF RAVIOLI

They may be made in various shapes as follows:—

(1) Roll a piece of noodle paste to a thin layer and stamp it out with a grooved cutter, two and one-half in. in diameter. Moisten the edges of each roundel of paste; garnish the centre of each with a ball of one of the above stuffings, the size of a hazel-nut, and fold in slipper-form.

(2) Roll the paste into a rectangle of four-in. sides; garnish with stuffing, leaving a gap between the portions of the latter; moisten the edges of the paste, and close up by drawing these together. Finally stamp out with a grooved, crescent-shaped fancy-cutter.

(3) Prepare a square layer of paste; garnish it with lines consisting of portions of paste; leave a space of two in. between the lines. Moisten; cover with a second layer of paste, of the same dimensions as the first, and divide up, by means of the roulette, into squares of two-in. sides. Whatever be the shape of the _ravioli_, plunge them into a saucepan of slightly salted boiling water; poach them for from eight to ten minutes, and drain them.

Set them on a buttered _gratin_-dish, sprinkled with grated cheese; sprinkle them with good beef gravy; then again with grated cheese, and set the _gratin_ to form. Or, dish the _ravioli_ in layers, sprinkling each layer with grated cheese and gravy. Complete with some grated cheese, and set the _gratin_ to form in the usual way.

N.B.—The _ravioli_ may also be served, merely sprinkled with grated cheese and nut-brown butter.