October 17 is National Pasta Day. Here are John Philip Sousa’s recipes for Spaghetti and Polentas/Pelotas (meatballs). Three versions exist. One from 1907, 1916 and 1922. Try them all!
POLENTAS, recipe by John Philip Sousa 1907
February 1907 issue of the Delineator magazine
To prepare these, the cook must take a pound of prime round steak, and, having removed any bits of bone and all stringy pieces, the meat must be put through the chopping machine – not to be cut into ordinarily small pieces, but to be chopped until it has assumed the consistency of a perfect mince. One egg is then added, with two tablespoonfuls of stale bread grated, one small onion grated, four sprigs of parsley finely chopped, and the necessary seasoning of salt and pepper. This mixture is then rolled into balls, each containing about a teaspoonful and a half of the paste.
In the meantime a sauce must have been prepared after the following recipe: Take a quarter of a peck of ripe tomatoes (or one can of tomatoes), one sweet green pepper from which the seeds have already been extracted, one onion, two bayleaves and one pint of water. These ingredients must boil together for one hour, after which they are pressed through a colander until all substance has percolated through and this is then boiled up one more. One tablespoonful of lard is then added, with pepper and salt as seasoning. Into this sauce the “polentas” are placed, and in it they are permitted to boil gently over a slow fire for fully forty minutes. By this time they have absorbed all the delicious flavors of the sauce, and by having boiled gently they have lost none of their own firmness, being still as smooth and round as they were when they were first put into this savory stew.
They are then served with spaghetti that has been prepared after the following fashion: Boil one pound of spaghetti in two quarts of water, to which one tablespoonful of salt has been added, for twenty minutes. After it has been thoroughly drained, pour over it the tomato sauce in which the “polentas” were boiled, and serve the combination very hot, with a liberal supply of grated Roman cheese on the side.
John Philip Sousa, Chicago Tribune, July 23, 1916
“This serves from six to eight people and is my favorite dish.”
Sauce: One quart can of tomatoes. Put in kettle on top of stove, simmer or let boil slowly for one and a half hours. Add pepper, salt, two onions cut in fine slices, four allspice and four cloves. The cloves and allspice to be added after it starts to boil. After two and a half hours add the meatballs.
Pelotas (meat balls): Two pounds chopped beef; add one onion, chopped fine, two cups bread crumbs, a little parsley, salt and pepper. Make into meat balls about the size of a plum. Put into sauce and cook slowly one and one-half hours. This makes fully three hours’ slow boiling for the sauce. To sauce, add three bay leaves one hour before taking off the stove.
Spaghetti: Use a package or a pound of spaghetti; not macaroni. Have a large pot of boiling water with about one tablespoonful of salt. Slide the spaghetti into the water. Do not break it. Boil exactly twenty minutes. Must be tender, not tough nor doughy.
Serve spaghetti on large platter, pouring tomato sauce over it. Serve pelotas on smaller platter, allowing a small quantity of sauce to remain on them. Serve grated Parmesan cheese on side. Use a piece of cheese to grate, not bottled cheese.
In 1922 he contributed a recipe for a cookbook.
Pelotas á la Portuguese
Tomato sauce: one quart can of tomatoes; put in kettle on top of stove, simmer or let boil slowly for one and a half hours. Add pepper, salt, two onions cut in fine slices, four allspice and four cloves, the cloves and allspice to be added after it starts to boil. After one and a half hours add:
- Pelotas (meat balls) – Two pounds chopped meat (beef, as hamburger steak). Add one onion chopped fine, one cup bread crumbs, a little parsley, salt and pepper. Make into meat balls about the size of a plum. Put into sauce and boil one and one-half hours slowly. This makes fully three hours’ slow boiling for the sauce.
- Spaghetti – use a package or a pound of spaghetti (not macaroni). Have a large pot of boiling water with about one table-spoonful of salt. Slide the spaghetti into the water, Do not break it. Boil exactly twenty minutes. Must be tender, not tough, not doughy.
To sauce add three bay leaves one hour before taking off the stove. Serve spaghetti on large platter, pouring tomato sauce over it. Serve pelotas on smaller platter, allowing a small quantity of sauce to remain. Serve grated parmesan cheese on side. Use the piece of cheese to grate, not bottled cheese.
Pass the grated cheese please! 😎
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