Macaroni

Macaroni, a food item very own to Italian cuisine, is a very popular and widely used variety of pasta. Often machine-made, macaroni is hollow and shaped shorter than the usual spaghetti variety. The fact that macaroni is eggless makes it the vegans' first choice of pasta. Used in salads, coleslaw and a number of other preparations is truly versatile and tastes best when clubbed with cheese.

 

Macaroni is a hollow tubular noodle that is made from the hard durum wheat. This cream colored machine made pasta does not contain egg and is generally cooked with various sauces, depending on the cuisine. Macaroni is believed to have been derived from the Italian word Maccheroni, which means “stained” or “to bruise or crush” that refers to wheat being crushed to make noodles. The most popular macaroni recipe is Macaroni Cheese along with other macaroni dishes that include Macaroni Pudding, Macaroni Soup, etc. Other than in the culinary world, certain craft projects of children in America include the popular elbow macaroni.

 

History of Macaroni and Macaroni Recipes
Macaroni is believed to have originated from the Greek word ‘makaria’, which was a type of broth made of barley specially made to commemorate dead people. However, there are other reports that state that this pasta was first invented by the Arabs during the Middle Ages. There are other stories as well that mention that macaroni recipes were introduced into the Italian cuisine by the Venetian traveler Marco Polo when he returned from China. Despite these differences in the origin, the invention or first production of macaroni is attributed to the Chinese, Etruscans, Greek Arabs and the Romans. Today, macaroni dishes are quite popular with young and old alike and various cuisines across the world have different ways of using macaroni.

 

Culinary Uses of Macaroni
Macaroni and macaroni dishes are quite popular with a lot of people, especially as a quick food. Some popular culinary uses of this tubular pasta are in the form of soup, casseroles, cooked with some heavy sauces along with meatballs and even used in stews. Some macaroni recipes also include using this pasta as filler. Depending on the local taste, there are other ways as well to prepare and spice up macaroni.

 

Popular Macaroni Recipes
Macaroni is part of many cuisines, especially Italian, American, Greek, Mexican, etc.  Italy is considered one of the main places where macaroni or pasta is supposed to have originated. There are some delectable macaroni dishes of this cuisine that are popular all over the world, today. One such popular macaroni recipe is Baked Macaroni and Cheese. Elbow macaroni and cheddar cheese are the two main ingredients of this baked dish. This dish gets an extra flavor from eggs, dry mustard, half and half, salt and pepper. Macaroni and Cheese is a comfort food that is a wonderful treat and very easy to prepare.

 

Other popular recipes of this cuisine are Pasta e Fagioli, Minestrone Parmesan, etc. American – Double Cheese Macaroni is a popular macaroni recipe of this cuisine. The dish gets its name from the fact that two types of cheese i.e., Gouda cheese and creamed cottage cheese are used. Other ingredients that add flavor to this dish are pitted black olives, sour cream, milk, walnuts, and parsley. Finally chili sauce, pepper and salt along with butter complete the dish. Other well known macaroni recipes of this cuisine are Macaroni Tuna Salad, Easy Turkey Tomato Pasta, Mom’s Macaroni, etc. Other popular macaroni recipes of other cuisines are Greek Baked Macaroni with Calamari Tomato Sauce, British Timpana Maltese Dish, Turkish Pasta Pie and many more. Macaroni Trivia Macaroni can also be made with other types of flours as well such as rice flour, spelt flour or flour made of various grains.