Tomato Mac and Cheese
The BEST EVER Tomato Mac and Cheese you can make is ridiculously cheesy, rich with tomato flavours and a crunchy breadcrumb topping.This recipe is oven baked.
Servings: 6
Calories: 210kcal
Equipment
- Stick blender Note 1
- Baking dish Note 5
Ingredients
Tomato Mac and Cheese
- 1 kg tomatoes
- 2 cups macaroni Note 2
- 4 cloves garlic Note 4
- 1 teaspoon thyme dried
- 1 tbs dried onion Note 3
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ¾ cup mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup parsley fresh if you can
Instructions
Tomato Mac and Cheese Method
- Preheat oven to 200°c/400°F,gas 6
- Spray a baking tray with cooking oil Note 3
- Add a little olive oil to a medium size pan. Slice the tomatoes in half and the garlic into thin slices. Then lay the tomatoes face down in the pan. Add garlic, then sprinkle thyme, dried onion, salt and pepper into dish. Place in oven for 30 mins and turn the tomatoes side up after 15 mins. Note 4
- Once the tomatoes are done remove them from the oven and let them cool for a bit. Then transfer them into a mixing jug. Use a stick blender to blitz them.
- Add ½ of the cheese to the blitzed tomatoes.
- Stir the cheese through the tomatoes to finish making your sauce.
- Cook your pasta in a medium saucepan filled with hot water. Remove and drain from the water when it is al dente. Note 7
- Stir the tomato sauce through the pasta to combine.
- Scoop the tomato mac and cheese into your prepared baking tray
- Top with the remaining cheese
- Sprinkle your breadcrumbs on top and then place in the oven to bake. This will take approximately 10 mins. Remove when the breadcrumbs are toasted and a light golden brown.
Video
Notes
- Note 1, stick, hand held and immersion blender are 3 different names for the same type of blender. Each will work fine, so you can use whichever one you prefer. I use my stick blender for this as the only washing up is the removable blender art and the jug used to hold the ingredients being blended.
- Note 2 this is 2 cups of dried macaroni. You can use traditional macaroni pasta or curly pasta (my preference).
- Note 3 this will be in the spices aisle at the supermarket. Usually in a packet. I love cooking with it as it saves me crying over an onion bowl, plus the flavour is really there. I also find it saves the unusual texture of cooked onions which is fine in some dishes but for this one I prefer smooth mac and cheese texture.
- Note 4 I prefer to use garlic cloves and slice them for this dish. Minced garlic doesn't work as well as it roast the same won't the slices cloves will. Use it if its the only option you have and it will save you a trip to the store but try the cloves the next time you make it and have a chance to grab this from the fruit and veg section at the shop.
- Note 5 I am being conservative in saying 6, it can stretch to feed 8 adults. I used 1 small baking dish, the size I used is: Small baker: 28 x 17.5 x 5 cm (shown in the photos) if you want to double the recipe to make a larger batch you can do that and either use 2 small or 1 large baking dish. My large baker that I do pasta bakes in is the following size: 33 x 22.5 x 5 cm. The ramekins are standard size ramekins.
- Note 6 use tongs to turn the tomatoes over as they will be very hot.
- Note 7 al dente means still hard when bitten, so keep in mind that undercooking the pasta in the early stages is better than overcooking it. We will cook it again in the oven, so it needs to be a little bit less cooked than if you were going to eat it straight away.
Nutrition
Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 488mg | Potassium: 519mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1694IU | Vitamin C: 28mg | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 1mg