Chef Juliette
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Consommé à la Milanaise
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 584, Consommé à la Milanaise, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Crystal-clear chicken consommé meets its crisp counterpoint: macaroni bound with dense Béchamel, yolk, and cheese, crumbed into small quoits and fried gold at the last minute, then served apart so every bite keeps its crust.
Soups & Stews
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
25 min cook•1 hr 45 min total
YieldAbout 1 quart (960 ml), 4 first-course servings
Consommé à la Milanaise (clarified chicken broth with fried macaroni-and-cheese quoits) teaches a clean opposition: the broth must stay limpid, the garnish crisp. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is that they cannot wait together. Keep them apart until the diner chooses the moment, and both remain themselves.
The old entry assumed a saucier with dense Béchamel ready, a clear chicken stock never off the fire, linen for drying pasta, and a pan of hot fat waiting for service. At home, prepared consommé warms in one saucepan while a small, thermometer-guided pot replaces the frying vat; a lint-free towel replaces the linen, and no salamander belongs in the job. The source already makes a home-sized quart for four, so its proportions remain untouched. The brigade scaffolding goes, but the last-minute frying and separate service stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Cool the macaroni mixture until it holds a clean edge before you shape it. That chill, more than any flourish, decides whether the quoits reach the table golden and whole.
Consommé à la Milanaise belongs to the French grand-kitchen table, where the phrase à la Milanaise pointed toward Milan in Lombardy through macaroni and grated cheese rather than reproducing a Milanese household soup. Italian pasta entered the French classical repertory as a garnish, and this formula binds it with Béchamel and cheese, then breads and fries it into quoits beside a clarified chicken consommé. Serving the broth, fried garnish, and grated Gruyère-Parmesan separately is not empty ceremony; it protects the contrast that gives the dish its reason.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dry straight tubular macaroni
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 57 g)
moderately thick
water
Quantity
6 cups (1.4 L / 1.4 kg)
for cooking the macaroni
fine salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g)
for the macaroni water
prepared very dense Béchamel
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 125 g)
made with real butter and whole milk
large egg yolk
Quantity
1
Gruyère
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 28 g)
finely grated for the macaroni mixture
large egg
Quantity
1
for the Anglaise
neutral oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g)
for the Anglaise
fine salt
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g)
for the Anglaise
finely ground white pepper
Quantity
1 small pinch
for the Anglaise
very fine dry breadcrumbs
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 60 g)
refined neutral frying oil
Quantity
4 cups (960 ml / 880 g)
prepared clear chicken consommé
Quantity
4 cups (960 ml / 960 g)
Gruyère
Quantity
Scant ¼ cup (55 ml / 21 g)
finely grated for passing at table
Parmesan
Quantity
Scant ¼ cup (55 ml / 21 g)
finely grated for passing at table
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dry straight tubular macaronimoderately thick | ½ cup (120 ml / 57 g) |
| waterfor cooking the macaroni | 6 cups (1.4 L / 1.4 kg) |
| fine saltfor the macaroni water | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) |
| prepared very dense Béchamelmade with real butter and whole milk | ½ cup (120 ml / 125 g) |
| large egg yolk | 1 |
| Gruyèrefinely grated for the macaroni mixture | ¼ cup (60 ml / 28 g) |
| large eggfor the Anglaise | 1 |
| neutral oilfor the Anglaise | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) |
| fine saltfor the Anglaise | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g) |
| finely ground white pepperfor the Anglaise | 1 small pinch |
| very fine dry breadcrumbs | 1 cup (240 ml / 60 g) |
| refined neutral frying oil | 4 cups (960 ml / 880 g) |
| prepared clear chicken consommé | 4 cups (960 ml / 960 g) |
| Gruyèrefinely grated for passing at table | Scant ¼ cup (55 ml / 21 g) |
| Parmesanfinely grated for passing at table | Scant ¼ cup (55 ml / 21 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •3-quart saucepan for the macaroni
- •Small heavy saucepan for the Béchamel
- •2-quart heavy high-sided saucepan for frying
- •Deep-fry or instant-read thermometer
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Spider or slotted spoon
- •Shallow tray lined with parchment
- •Soup tureen and four soup bowls
Instructions
- 1
Cook and cut macaroni
Bring the water and 2 teaspoons of salt to a lively boil. Add the macaroni and cook until tender through but still intact, about 8 to 10 minutes depending on its shape; it must cut cleanly without collapsing. Drain thoroughly, spread it over a clean lint-free towel, and cut the tubes crosswise into rings about ¼ inch (6 mm) wide as soon as they are cool enough to handle. Do not rinse them, because their surface starch helps the dense sauce grip.
Straight tubular macaroni is essential. Elbows cannot be cut into the little rings specified by the dish; short lengths of ziti are the honest supermarket equivalent when long macaroni is unavailable. - 2
Enrich the Béchamel
Warm the prepared dense Béchamel over the lowest heat until it becomes pliable. Mix the egg yolk with the ¼ cup of Gruyère, then beat in a spoonful of warm Béchamel to temper the yolk. Remove the saucepan from the heat, stir in the yolk mixture, and return it to low heat for 30 to 60 seconds, stirring constantly, until a spoon drawn through the sauce leaves a firm track. Never let it boil. If the yolk begins to grain, lift the pan off the heat at once, whisk hard, and pass the sauce through a fine sieve while it is still warm.
- 3
Cool the mixture
Fold the macaroni rings through the enriched Béchamel until every piece is coated. Spread the mixture about ½ inch (1 cm) thick on a shallow plate or small tray. Let it stand for 10 minutes, cover once it has cooled, then refrigerate for about 30 minutes. It is ready when it feels firm, leaves a clean edge when cut, and no longer clings heavily to your fingers.
- 4
Shape the quoits
Divide the cold mixture into 14 to 16 walnut-sized portions. Roll each briefly between cold palms, then flatten it into a small quoit about 1¼ inches (3 cm) across and ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick, the practical home equivalent of the book's shilling comparison. If the portions slump, stop and chill them for another 15 minutes. Cold is the correction here, not extra breadcrumbs mixed into the filling.
- 5
Apply the Anglaise
Whisk the whole egg with the tablespoon of neutral oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and white pepper until completely combined. This is Anglaise, beaten egg with oil and seasoning. Dip each quoit in the Anglaise, let the excess fall away, then coat it on every side with the very fine breadcrumbs, pressing gently so no bare patch remains. Arrange the crumbed quoits in one layer and refrigerate for 15 minutes to set the coating.
- 6
Ready broth and fat
Pour the frying oil into a heavy, high-sided saucepan no more than half full and heat it to 350°F (175°C). In a second saucepan, bring the chicken consommé nearly to a boil, cover it, and hold it just below that point. Warm the soup tureen and four bowls with hot water, then dry them thoroughly before service.
Use a thermometer and keep the oil between 345°F and 355°F (174°C and 180°C). Cooler oil makes a greasy crust; hotter oil browns the crumbs before the coating has sealed. - 7
Fry at the last minute
Four minutes before service, lower one test quoit into the hot oil with a spider or slotted spoon. If it holds, fry the rest in two quick batches until evenly golden, about 2 minutes per batch, keeping the oil near 350°F (175°C). If the tester opens, lift it out, return the remaining quoits to the cold for 15 minutes, patch any cracks with a little Anglaise and breadcrumbs, and restore the oil temperature. Ça se rattrape. Drain the golden quoits on a rack or absorbent paper and send them to the table at once.
- 8
Serve three parts
Bring the consommé to a brief full boil, then pour it into the warmed tureen. Mix the remaining Gruyère and Parmesan in equal quantities and place them in a small serving bowl. Carry the broth, the hot fried quoits, and the grated cheese to the table separately, exactly as the dish requires; each diner may add a quoit and a little cheese at the last possible moment. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The source's quarter pint of Béchamel becomes ½ cup at this home scale, exactly one-eighth of the quart of consommé. Keep it very dense. If a spoon track closes immediately, reduce the Béchamel gently before adding the yolk.
- •The entry names only grated cheese inside the Béchamel. Gruyère is used here because it melts smoothly and keeps the mixture cohesive; the finishing cheese remains the specified equal mixture of Gruyère and Parmesan.
- •Sieve the dry breadcrumbs if they are coarse. The crumb must be fine enough to cover every curve without making a heavy shell, because the pleasure lies in a thin crisp crust around a tender macaroni centre.
- •The consommé must be genuinely clear and clean-tasting, not merely ordinary cloudy chicken stock. Season it cautiously before heating, since the fried garnish and two cheeses bring salt of their own.
- •Fry in refined neutral oil rather than keeping a household cauldron of rendered fat. The frying medium is brigade scaffolding; the last-minute plunge into properly hot fat is the dish and cannot be moved earlier.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare the chicken consommé and dense Béchamel up to 2 days ahead. Chill them promptly in separate covered containers; reheat the consommé only when the quoits are ready to fry.
- •The macaroni mixture may be shaped, coated with Anglaise and breadcrumbs, and refrigerated in one layer up to 24 hours ahead. Keep the quoits covered without pressing the covering onto their crumb.
- •Grate and combine the table cheeses earlier the same day, then keep them covered in the refrigerator. Bring them out shortly before serving so their flavour isn't muted by deep cold.
- •Fry the quoits only at the last minute. Reheating softens their crust, and crispness against clear broth is the entire argument of the dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 350g)
Calories
405 calories
Total Fat
27 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
105 mg
Sodium
1320 mg
Total Carbohydrates
24 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
16 g
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