Spaghetti with Tomato Cheese Sauce

Recipe No. 214 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Macaroni, Spaghetti, Noodles and Rice. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Tomatoes — 3 No. 10 cans
• Sugar, granulated — 6 ounces (¼ mess kit cup)
• Salt — 3 ounces (6 mess kit spoons)
• Onions, chopped — 3 pounds (3 No. 56 dippers)
• Parsley — 2 ounces
• Cloves, ground — ½ ounce (2 mess kit spoons)
• Fat, melted — 3 pounds (1½ No. 56 dippers)

Flour, sifted — 1½ pounds (1½ No. 56 dippers)

• Soup stock or water, hot — 1½ gallons (6 No. 56 dippers)
• Cheese, shredded — 6 pounds (6 No. 56 dippers)
• Spaghetti — 10 pounds
• Salt — 5 ounces (10 mess kit spoons)
• Water, boiling — 10 gallons (40 No. 56 dippers)

Directions

1. Combine tomatoes, sugar, salt, onions, parsley, and cloves. Heat to boiling point; reduce heat and simmer until onions are tender. Press through sieve.
2. Mix melted fat and flour; stir until smooth. Add hot tomato mixture and hot soup stock.
3. Heat to boiling point; boil 5 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from fire; add cheese. Stir until cheese is melted.
4. Break spaghetti into 2- to 3-inch pieces.
5. Add spaghetti to boiling salted water; boil 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well.
6. Add sauce to spaghetti; mix well.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Tomatoes — 3 cups Sugar, granulated — ½ oz Salt — about 1½ tsp Onions, chopped — 3¾ oz Parsley — about 1 tsp Cloves, ground — a pinch Fat, melted — 3¾ oz Flour, sifted — 2 oz Soup stock or water, hot — 2 cups Cheese, shredded — 7⅔ oz Spaghetti — 12¾ oz Salt — ⅓ oz Water, boiling — 3¼ qt

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 214, Macaroni, Spaghetti, Noodles and Rice. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.