Baked Tomato Mac and Cheese
A baked mac and cheese recipe with fresh tomatoes, this is the ultimate summer mac and cheese! With layers of juicy slices of garden or heirloom tomatoes to cut through the richness of the sauce and add a delicious sweet contrast, this mac and cheese is light and refreshing for the warmer seasons.
Ingredients
- 15 oz (450 g) dried macaroni
- ½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter
- ½ cup (60 g) all purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup double (heavy) cream
- 4 cups (325 g) shredded cheese, cheddar or a mix of cheddar and gruyere, jarlsberg or similar
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp mustard powder
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- 3-4 large tomatoes , or a combination of larger and smaller tomatoes - cut into thin slices
- olive oil, for drizzling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 430F / 220C / 200C Fan and lightly grease a 9x13 inch (23x33cm) casserole dish.
- In a large, deep saute pan, melt the butter over a low-medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk constantly until a paste (roux) forms.1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- After a minute or two of whisking, the roux will start to smell toasted. At this point, add the mustard powder, smoked paprika and salt. Whisk to combine.1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp mustard powder, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- Now turn up the heat to medium and start adding the cream and milk (I usually measure both of them into one jug but if you measure them separately, start with the cream and then move on to the milk). You need to start slow and whisk constantly. Just add a splash at a time to start with, gradually pouring more quickly as time goes on. *The reason for this is to keep the pan's temperature stable - if you add too much cold milk to a small amount of sauce, it won't be able to emulsify into it - that's when lumps will form. At the beginning, there isn't a lot of sauce in the pan so adding more than a splash of milk will bring the temperature down too much. But as you go on, the amount of warm sauce in the pan will get higher so you can pour milk in faster without the risk of it cooling the pan down too much.3 cups whole milk, 1 cup double (heavy) cream
- Once all of the milk is added, continue to whisk for a few more minutes until the sauce has thickened up a little and starts bubbling at the sides. Then turn off the heat and mix the cheese through until melted. Set aside while you boil the pasta.4 cups shredded cheese
- Boil the pasta, and drain it a couple of minutes before the package's stated cooking time is up. Add it to the pan with the sauce and mix through.15 oz dried macaroni
- Pour half of the mac and cheese mixture into your baking dish and layer some sliced tomatoes over the top. You want to make sure each portion will have some tomato in it, but you should also leave gaps between the tomatoes, as pictured.3-4 large tomatoes
- Spread the rest of the mac and cheese over the top, and then add another layer of tomatoes to the top. With this layer, you want to completely cover the mac and cheese and leave as few gaps between your tomato slices as possible. Drizzle some olive oil over the top of each tomato and add salt and pepper to taste.olive oil
- Place in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes have roasted and started to brown around the edges. You can use the grill / broiler to finish them off if you want to, but I would not recommend letting them bake for any longer than 20 minutes or the mac and cheese will dry out.
- Let it sit for a few moments until it stops bubbling, then serve immediately.
Calories: 629kcal, Carbohydrates: 54g, Protein: 24g, Fat: 35g, Saturated Fat: 20g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 103mg, Sodium: 689mg, Potassium: 488mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 1699IU, Vitamin C: 9mg, Calcium: 428mg, Iron: 2mg