Macaroni-Cheese Without the Pot of Water!

Submitted by Zurie

"This recipe helps you make a quick, simple version of Macaroni-Cheese, without the hassle of actually boiling a huge pot of water! I've made this often ages ago and just discovered the recipe again. It's really clever to measure just enough water to cook the macaroni! Ideal family dish, or to freeze for later. As I only have a yellowed, pasted clipping in a scrapbook, I have no idea where it came from. I'd suggest you add a few extras if you like, such as a little hot pepper, or instead of using grated cheddar you could make a cheese sauce instead. But this simple dish is great just as it is, for busy moms with kids!"

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 3 tomatoes, large and ripe
• 5 cups water
• 1 lb macaroni (the elbow macaroni in short pieces, 500g)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1⁄4 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 ounces bacon, chopped into large pieces (125 g)
• 1 lb ground beef (500g)
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated (250 g)

directions

1. Heat oven to 325°F/160°C, and grease an oven dish.
2. Peel the tomatoes and chop into pieces.
3. Heat the water to boiling, and add the macaroni little by little (to keep the water boiling).
4. Also add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and basil, stir now and then, and cook without a lid until the macaroni is tender and the mixture is sort of saucy.
5. While that is cooking, fry the onion and bacon in a little oil until softened and cooked.
6. Add the ground beef, and stir with a fork to loosen the meat. Stir until cooked through.
7. Ladle the macaroni mixture into the greased oven dish. Spread half the meat mixture over the top, and then half the grated cheddar.
8. Add rest of the meat, then the last of the cheddar.
9. Bake, open, in the preheated oven until heated through and the cheese is melted.

Reviews

[Chef shapeweaver]

This recipe was made on 1/14/15 for our dinner and most importantly the Cook-A-Thon honoring Zurie. I did make a few changes to the recipe and they are as follows.My SO isn't a big fan of cooked tomato, so instead of using large tomatoes a couple of very small vine ripened were used.<br/>After cutting up the tomatoes,they were sprinkled with the salt,pepper, and basil then set aside. When the macaroni was almost done, the seasoned tomatoes were added. Then more salt,pepper,and basil was added to the water. After cooking up the onion and bacon the ground beef was browned in the bacon "drippings". While the beef was browning,a bit of seasoning salt, garlic powder,oregano,and crushed red pepper flakes were added. The casserole was assembled in this order, I placed half of the meat mixture in a prepared 11x 7 inch pan.Then sprinkled with about 2 ounces of cheddar cheese,topped with the pasta,added 2 more ounces of cheddar cheese( I love cheese.). Then the remaining meat was added and topped with 2 ounces of shredded Mexican Blend Cheese. To get it get a bit more of browner top, I let bake a bit more than the recipe stated. We both thought the recipe deserved a good 4 star rating. I can't believe that this recipe has been posted since 2008 and no one has tried . I'm very pleased to be the first one to rate,review,and photograph this recipe. " Keep Smiling :) "