Tomato soup puts the ‘Tomato’ in Macaroni Tomato Bake.
When people talk about the many variations of macaroni and cheese as comfort food, I have to agree. For many of us, that easy-to-prepare dish is tied to memories of childhood, warmth and coziness.
In the household where I grew up our version of the dish was Macaroni Tomato Bake. I think my mom had found the recipe in a magazine, and the easy addition of tomato soup put the Tomato in its name.
I seem to remember my dad wasn’t too fond of it, so my mom didn’t make it for the evening meal, when he’d be home from work. But my sister and I liked it. And when we’d walk home from grade school for lunch sometimes Mom would be taking a steaming casserole dish of it out of the oven. Even better, sometimes our grandmother was visiting and the four of us would all dig in, and then Liz and I would walk back up the hill to school.
It probably sounds like an ancient concept to kids of today, but back in the mist-shrouded past when I was growing up, most of the kids at our grade school walked a block or two or, in our case, half a mile, to go home for lumch. Of course we had to run away from the T-Rex and the saber-tooth tigers along the way. (Just kidding about the prehistoric dangers. But we did walk back and forth.)
At 90, my mom still makes this dish, probably about once every three weeks. And since she’s regularly making it and offering me some, I tend not to make it myself. But this week, with the weather cold and damp, I felt inspired to whip up a double batch and see how the newsroom taste testers would like it.
To put my own spin on it, I added half a diced red pepper for extra flavor and color.
So what did the taste testers think?
“Very tasty. I like the flavor from the pepper and onions,” sportswriter Kevin Carroll said, noting he’s more used to the orange color of macaroni and cheese from a box as opposed to this more golden hue.
“I heard you talking about the onions, and that’s different to me,” part-time news editor Aaron Miller said. “I like it a lot.”
“It’s really good, and it’s different,” reporter Margaret Roarty said. “The flavors of the tomato and onion are really prominent.”
Two out of the three accepted second helpings, which pleased me.
Even better, I’d stopped at my mom’s house on my way to work and gave her a bowlful. “This is the best it’s ever tasted,” she said. Hmmm. Maybe I owe it all to the red pepper.
At home, Mark took a second helping and said, “It must be good. It’s all gone now.”
And here is the recipe, doubled to serve a crowd.
Macaroni Tomato Bake
1 pound elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
Half a red pepper, diced
2 cans condensed tomato soup
8 ounces cheese, shredded (I used extra sharp cheddar)
Cook macaroni, following package directions and drain.
Heat butter in a skillet and saute red pepper and onion.
Mix macaroni with sauteed vegetables in baking dish. Stir shredded cheese into macaroni mix.
Prepare tomato soup following directions on can (add water) and pour over the mix, stirring to coat.
Bake at 325 for 20 minutes.
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