Cooks Creamy Tomato Mac and Cheese

Submitted by Lori Mama

"This is a Cooks Country recipe with modifications."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• good amount of salt for water
• 1 (14 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, any flavor
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1⁄4 cup flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup milk (1%)
• 1 cup half-and-half (5%)
• 1⁄2 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
3. Add salt.
4. Add macaroni and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Drain pasta and return to pot.
6. Add the tomatoes with their juice and cook, on medium heat, until all the moisture has evaporated.
7. About 5 minutes, stiring occasionally.
8. Meanwhile, in another saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
9. Add flour/cayenne and cook 4 minutes.
10. Add heated liquids and whisk.
11. Continue whisking until sauce thickens.
12. Add cheese and stir until melted.
13. Combine sauce with pasta mixture and turn into a 9x13, greased, casserole dish.
14. Bake 20 minutes.
15. Remove and let stand 10-15 minutes.

Reviews

[Cindi-Marie-Bauer]

Made this for last night's dinner, but hubby and I agreed this dish seemed to be missing something. Even though I added the cayenne pepper, I still added a few dashes of Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce to my serving on my plate, while my husband added regular Tabasco to his. We felt the Tabasco gave this dish a nice kick! I subbed 3 cups of Rotini pasta for the 2 cups of elbow macaroni, plus I subbed stewed tomatoes for the diced tomatoes, and I used 2% milk instead of the 1%. After I added the flour to the butter, I only needed to cook that for about 1 minute, then I gradually stiired in the milk and half-and-half, and cooked that for about 4 minutes to thicken up the sauce, to make it creamy, and for the lumps of flour to disapear. I then turned off the heat, and added the 3 cups of shredded cheese; stirring continuously til the cheese melted. In another saucepan, I heated the broth and stewed tomatoes along with the already cooked pasta for just a few minutes, then added that to the cheesy-creamy sauce in a 2-1/2 quart casserole baking dish, and baked the mac 'n' cheese for 22 minutes. This was a nice twist on mac 'n' cheese. Enjoyed the tomatoes in this dish, and enjoyed the aroma of the cheese after I took it out of the oven. It tasted ever so good when I reheated it in the microwave. Lori, I'm looking forward to making this again. Thanx for the recipe!!

 

[kellychris]

This was a nice,creamy,better than plain mac-n-cheese dish!I loved that it was made by starting with a bechamel sauce- made it oh, so creamy.I will take another reviewers advice and use Rotel tomatoes as I was scared to use "too much" cayenne.made for Spring PAC,2011.

 

[sofie-a-toast]

What a cozy meal! I've never had mac and cheese with tomatoes before and I definitely didn't hate it :) Make sure to use sharp cheddar cheese as the flavor would have been lacking without it. After all, this dish is all about the cheese! The cayenne adds a nice little kick at the end that you barely notice the spiciness of but makes a difference and adds complexity. Totally recommend! Made for Holiday Tag.

 

[MeganMuffins]

I left out the cayenne and used Rotel tomatoes instead. Great change from the old fashion mac n cheese!

 

[queenbeatrice]

This is a very tasty mac and cheese and very easy also, everyone here loved it. Will make again. Thanks for sharing your lovely recipe :)