Food & Cooking Recipes Ingredients Pasta and Grains Mrs. Kostyra's Mac and Cheese 4.0 (33) It's a favorite comfort food for Martha and her siblings. Servings: 6 Jump to recipe Martha’s mom’s macaroni and cheese was a family favorite when Martha was growing up. Mrs. Kostyra’s recipe is based on a mac and cheese her mother, Martha’s grandmother, made by adding canned tomato soup to the usual cheesy baked pasta. In Big Martha's version, the dish has a delicate pink tint thanks to tomato paste in the cheese sauce. It’s simple to make and no béchamel sauce required. Instead, the cheese is stirred into the milk to make the sauce, and the sauce is stirred into the cooked pasta, transferred to a casserole dish, and baked. Martha’s mom used white cheddar and Swiss cheeses, but you can use any cheese you have on hand that grates well. There’s one more family secret to this dish, serve it with sour cream—it’s how both Mrs. Kostyra and Martha enjoyed it. 15 Family Recipes From Big Martha, Martha's Mother Directions Preheat oven and prep baking dish: Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish; set aside. Make cheese sauce: Warm the milk and tomato paste in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, cheddar cheese, and 1/2 cup Swiss cheese; set the cheese sauce aside. Cook pasta: Cover a large pot of salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook until pasta is al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain well in a colander. Assemble dish: Stir macaroni into reserved cheese sauce. Pour mixture into prepared dish. Top with remaining 1/2 cup Swiss cheese, and dot with butter. Bake: Bake until golden brown and bubbling, about 45 minutes. Serve hot with sour cream, if desired. More Mac and Cheese Recipes to Try Baked Mac and Cheese Test Kitchen's Favorite Mac and Cheese Pimiento Mac and Cheese French Onion Mac-and-Cheese Cheater's Macaroni and Cheese