Ingredients:
10 oz macaroni, cooked and drained
28 oz canned whole tomatoes
8 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons oregano
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease or spray casserole dish. In a medium saucepan, heat oil. Add onion, shallot and garlic, cook until translucent, about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spinach, tomatoes and oregano. Stir occasionally, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon. Cook about 10 minutes or until cooked through. Pour over drained macaroni. Place in alternating layers in the casserole, beginning and ending with cheese. Cook 20-30 minutes or until bubbly hot.
My thoughts:
I have really been in the mood for some retro style comfort food. It was pretty fast to make and certainly easy. I bet you could make and refrigerate this the day before baking and it would be just as good although it would take longer to bake. It’s actually a fairly healthy version of mac and cheese compared to a lot of recipes that call for butter and milk/cream along with all of the cheese. The tomatoes, celery and spinach give you more than a serving of vegetables and if you use low fat cheddar, it is almost light.
WOW! We are definitely on the same wave length! I just had this for dinner…spinach but no tomato.
Oh I love macaroni and tomato’s! Had forgotten all about it……I will have this for sure……
Sounds about perfect to me.
This sounds completely delicious. I feel inspired!
Mmmmm… that looks so good. I prefer to have something in my Mac and Cheese. Tomatoes are great, spinach too. I like to add peas to that mix too.
Zucchini & squash is abundant now this would be good to put with the mac & cheese & spinach. My snow peas won’t quit. I get a bunch evey day, they come out at night, dozens of them. They would go good in there, too.
I made this last night and it was wonderful. A huge hit with my family. I used whole wheat penne instead of macaroni for a bit of a healthy twist. It was excellent.