Creamy macaroni cheese with tomatoes
1 hour 5 minutes
Old-fashioned comfort food gets a flavour and vitamin boost from grated carrots and sliced tomatoes.
Lynn Lewis
1 person made this
Ingredients
Serves: 8
- 500 g elbow macaroni
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 spring onions, coarsely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (35 g) plain flour
- 4 cups (1 litre) low-fat (1%) milk, warmed
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3 cups (360 g) coarsely grated 25% reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
- ½ cup (40 g) grated parmesan cheese
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and coarsely grated
- 2 medium tomatoes, cored and sliced
- 1 cup (60 g) fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
Directions
Preparation:20min ›
Cook:35min ›
Extra time:10min ›
Ready in:1hour5min
- Preheat oven to 190°C. Lightly coat a 33 x 22 x 5 cm baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Cook macaroni in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water until al dente, following packet instructions. Drain well; return to pan.
- Heat oil in a large non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add the spring onion and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Gradually stir in flour. Cook 1 minute.
- Gradually stir in 1 cup of milk until thoroughly blended. Stir in the remaining milk. Bring to the boil. Lower heat and simmer, stirring, until lightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in mustard, cheddar and half the parmesan.
- Fold sauce into the macaroni. Transfer mixture to baking dish. Place the tomatoes in single layer over the top. Combine remaining parmesan and breadcrumbs; sprinkle over tomatoes.
- Bake until the filling is bubbling and the topping is lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes; serve.
fresh ideas
Use any short- to medium-sized stubby pasta shape in this macaroni cheese recipe: radiatore, rotelle, short fusilli, wagon wheels, ziti, penne or farfalle are suitable. For children, use fun shapes such as letters of the alphabet and stars.
