The 2-Ingredient Pasta Dish Your Grandma Probably Used To Make

Pasta is a staple in many households. It's relatively inexpensive and super versatile. It is one of those ingredients that even your grandmother and great-grandmother probably embraced during the Great Depression, making simple dishes like buttered noodles, pasta and cabbage, and pasta and peas. Some of these retro pasta dishes are still in dinner rotation, but perhaps none is more of a conversation starter than macaroni and canned tomatoes. 

Macaroni and canned tomatoes are exactly what they sound like. At its most basic, cooked noodles are combined with warmed, canned tomatoes, juices, and all, and seasoned with some salt and pepper. Some recipes call for adding the luxury of bacon grease or butter and a little sugar to soften the acidity of the tomatoes. 

Sure, fresh tomatoes seem like a better choice, but that's not always the case. They are prone to spoil once they've been plucked from the vine, and when you are living in a waste-not, want-not culture of needing cheap, filling food, allowing food to go bad is a cardinal sin. You can, however, combine fresh tomatoes with your canned tomatoes. This is a great way to use those fruits that have softened too much to layer on a sandwich but aren't ready for the compost pile.

Canned tomatoes are preferable because they tend to have a little salt added to them, which enhances the tomato taste that you know and love. What is the best type of canned tomatoes to use? Use whatever you have on hand, but whole, peeled tomatoes are a good choice because they are less processed, and for this reason, their flavor is better. You can crush them yourself as they warm in the pot. 

When it comes to the macaroni, how you cook it matters. You want to make certain you cook it al dente. This will allow the tomato juices and flavors to be more readily absorbed and the starch from the noodles to be released, which will thicken the whole dish. And don't throw out that pasta water. You can add a little bit of it to the tomatoes for even more flavor.

This meal can stand on its own, but what you and your pocketbook will love about this macaroni and canned tomato dish is that you can customize it. It is easy to give it a modern twist with other inexpensive additions you might have in your pantry. Add a sprinkle of homemade breadcrumbs made in the toaster to give it a crunchy element, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese for a salty, nutty taste. Some leftover protein from a previous night's perfectly roasted chicken can make this feel like a complete meal.