Follow our easy, step-by-step, recipe for making this old fashioned Macaroni and Tomatoes dish.
Macaroni and Tomatoes, made with fresh tomatoes and a pinch of sugar.
Macaroni and Tomatoes recipe.
Here’s a really quick and simple dish that brings back lots of memories from my childhood. Perhaps it will yours too.
It only takes a few ingredients, and of course, it’s always better when you can get hold of some fresh tomatoes while they are in season. Vine ripened fresh tomatoes just have a unique taste of their own.
There are a few old fashioned dishes that Mama use to cook that I’ve just never been able to duplicate to my satisfaction over the years. She cooked great spaghetti in my opinion, but it was a simple recipe that I always seem to remember as containing tomato soup.
I’ve tried it numerous times, with the soup, and other such things, but never can “nail it” as the saying goes.
However, when I cooked up this Macaroni and Tomatoes recipe, I realized one of the ingredients that I had been overlooking. That ingredient was Bacon Grease. It’s what gives this that “old fashioned” taste that so many of us remember.
I haven’t tried making the spaghetti since I did this pasta dish, but I’m going to pretty soon. I’ve just got to render down some more bacon fat first. You do save your bacon grease for seasoning – right?
If you need help with that, check out this post on How To Render Bacon Fat.
Save the bacon grease and use it to add some great old fashioned flavor to our Macaroni and Tomatoes dish. You can thank me later. Smile.
So, if you’re ready, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking.
You’ll need these ingredients to make our Macaroni and Tomatoes.
Prepare the pasta according to the directions on the package.
Once it’s done, drain the pasta in a colander and just let it sit until needed.
Of course, while the pasta is cooking, it’s a great time to go ahead and dice the onions.
And go ahead and dice the tomatoes.
I like to use the same pot that I cooked my pasta in to finish out the recipe. Rinse it out and place it back on the stove top over Medium heat. Add the bacon grease.
Did I ask you if you save your bacon grease yet? Smile.
Place the diced onions in the pot with the bacon grease.
Add the tomatoes.
Add the salt.
Add the black pepper.
Add the sugar.
Stir the ingredients together and let it cook gently until the onions are translucent.
Add the cooked pasta into the pot, then gently stir everything together.
Let this cook, stirring often, for about 5 more minutes.
REMOVE THE POT FROM THE HEAT.
Once you have the pot off the heat, cover it with a lid.
I used the lid from my canning pot. Can’t seem to find the actual lid that goes with the pot. I think it ran away at some point. Haven’t seen it in awhile. It was such a good lid too. Smile.
Just let the Macaroni and Tomatoes rest for about 15-20 minutes before serving. This helps the pasta to better absorb the flavors. You’ll be glad you waited.
Enjoy!
Serve it while warm. Hoe Cakes just seem to go well with this.
