This yummy treat from page 76 of the Delaware Heritage Cookbook (1988) contains enough ingenuity to make it as much fun to prepare as it is to eat. Only the instructions have been rewritten to make cooking steps clearer and more discrete with a very modest improvement.

You’ll need:

1 pound small macaroni shells, cooked
3 to 5 pound pot roast
2 Tbsp. lard or drippings (I used saved beef fat from previous cooking, a vintage technique)
2¼ cups water
½ tsp. salt
2 28-ounce cans tomato puree
1 envelope spaghetti sauce mix (or see Classic 1950s Experience in instructions)
½ cup stuffed olives, sliced (optional)
2 Tbsp. flour

Brown pot roast in drippings. Remove; drain well if necessary. Add 1 cup of water and the salt. Cover and simmer in a Dutch oven for 1½ hours. Remove meat, place on a platter and set aside. Add puree, spaghetti sauce mix, olives if used, and 1 cup water. Bring back to a boil; then add the meat back into the sauce.

Simmer covered for another 1½ hours until tender. As the cooking time nears completion, cook macaroni shells according to package directions. Remove meat to a heated platter or place meat on platter into a holding oven (~170° F). Add the cooked macaroni to sauce. Simmer for 10 more minutes.

FOR A CLASSIC 1950s EXPERIENCE

Instead of using the packet of spaghetti sauce mix, use 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. oregano, 1 tsp. basil, 1 tsp. onion powder, ½ tsp. pepper, and ½ tsp. granulated garlic.

To thicken sauce, make a paste by shaking together the flour and ¼ cup water; add to sauce in pot. Slice pot roast, place on a meat platter, and serve macaroni with sauce around the meat.

Enjoy! (But please keep those elbows off the table!)