Minced Veal and Macaroni is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic dish of cold, roast, veal that's minced, mixed with ham and breadcrumbs and bound with egg and which is layered in a bowl with cooked macaroni before being steamed and served with gravy. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Minced Veal and Macaroni.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
MINCED VEAL AND MACARONI.
(A pretty side or corner dish.)
891. INGREDIENTS.—3/4 lb. of minced cold roast veal, 3 oz. of ham, 1 tablespoonful of gravy, pepper and salt to taste, 3 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 1/4 lb. of bread crumbs, 1/4 lb. of macaroni, 1 or 2 eggs to bind, a small piece of butter.
Mode.—Cut some nice slices from a cold fillet of veal, trim off the brown outside, and mince the meat finely with the above proportion of ham: should the meat be very dry, add a spoonful of good gravy. Season highly with pepper and salt, add the grated nutmeg and bread crumbs, and mix these ingredients with 1 or 2 eggs well beaten, which should bind the mixture and make it like forcemeat. In the mean time, boil the macaroni in salt and water, and drain it; butter a mould, put some of the macaroni at the bottom and sides of it, in whatever form is liked; mix the remainder with the forcemeat, fill the mould up to the top, put a plate or small dish on it, and steam for 1/2 hour. Turn it out carefully, and serve with good gravy poured round, but not over, the meat.
Time.—1/2 hour. Average cost, exclusive of the cold meat, 10d.
Seasonable from March to October.
Note.—To make a variety, boil some carrots and turnips separately in a little salt and water; when done, cut them into pieces about 1/8 inch in thickness; butter an oval mould, and place these in it, in white and red stripes alternately, at the bottom and sides. Proceed as in the foregoing recipe, and be very careful in turning it out of the mould.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
350g cold roast veal, minced
90g ham
1 tbsp meat gravy
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
3 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
115g breadcrumbs
115g macaroni
2 eggs, to bind
1 tbsp butter
Method:
Mince the ham and combine with the minced veal. If the meat looks a little dry then mix in the gravy. Season liberally with salt and black pepper then add the nutmeg and breadcrumbs. Beat the eggs thoroughly in a bowl then add to the veal mixture.
In the meantime, bring a pan of lightly-salted water to a boil, add the macaroni and cook for about 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain the macaroni and set aside.
Butter a mould then add a layer of the cooked macaroni in the base and part-way up the sides. Mix the remaining macaroni with the meat mixture. Use this to fill up the mould then sit a plate on top. Place in a steamer and cook for 30 minutes then remove from the heat.
Carefully invert onto a serving dish and turn out the meat mixture. Pour gravy around the base and serve.
