Question: How to make a traditional Sicilian Macaroni Pie
By: Humphrey Beckett
Published: January 5, 2011

In the "Leopard", set in nineteenthe century Sicily, the author describes "a towering macaroni pie ... the burnished gold of [its] crusts, the fragrance of sugar and cinnamon they exuded ... When the knife broke the crust ... a spice-laden haze, then chicken livers, hard-boiled eggs, sliced ham, chicken and truffles in masses of piping hot, glistening macaroni, to which the meat juice gave an exquisite hue of suede." [from the chapter "Donnafugata"].
Can anyone tell me how to make this magnificent dish?

Answers:
Lucy Caminiti

I can get close for you, I make "Pasta al forno" which is a sicilian baked pasta.
The ingredients are a small shaped pasta, hard boiled eggs, peas, beef, toasted bread crumbs, and tomato sauce. My sicilian relatives use ham, which is "prosciutto cotto", this is a european ham which has much better flavor than our traditional american ham and is not the same. I'm sure my mother changed the ham to beef because of the availability when she came to this country. If you would like my recipe I wouldn't mind sharing... :)
vansohn

Wow the internet is amazing- I just read that passage in the leopard and had precisely the same question.  I live in Colombo, Sri Lanka so Im not sure where my nearest sicillian is but 2 mins of googling- and someone has aked the same food-based literature question before.  Still im sure there was also mention made of whole eggs, im a big fan of boiled eggs in pies but cant find a recipe that includes them...
silve

I can translate for you the recipe from a reliable sicilian cookbook, "la cucina tradizionale siciliana" by anna pomar.
for the crust: flour 500 g, lard or butter 200 g, sugar 2 spoons, white wine 1 glass, 1 egg and 1 yolk, a pinch of salt. here you can add some cinnamon.
for the filling: maccheroni 400 g, chicken livers  3 or 4, dried mushrooms 80 g, ham 100 g, butter 100 g, white wine 1/2 glass, 1/2 onion, condensed tomato 1 teaspoon, olive oil, salt, pepper, grated parmesan cheese.
enjoy!
silve

yes, sorry I was in a hurry!
for the crust, mix the ingredients, let the dough rest for at least 1 hour, divide it in 2 parts and roll them for the crust shell and top.
for the filling, cook the maccheroni separately in salted boiling water, when they are almost ready take them out of the pan and stop the cooking with cold water.
cook the other ingredients in a pan: onion with oil, then add livers, ham and mushrooms diced, then the condensed tomato and wine. it has to simmer for 1 hour so that all the flavors mix well. then mix all with the maccheroni and some butter and parmesan and fill the crust shell. cover it with the other crust, make some small holes with a fork.
put it in the oven, mid heath, until the crust is golden and well cooked.
enhtusiasm is an essential ingredient in cooking, have a nice maccheroni pie!