One-Pot Cheddar Tomato Mac

At the happy place where mac and cheese, tomato pasta and tomato soup with grilled cheese meet, you’ll find this dreamy weeknight pasta. It starts with sizzling tomato paste, as well as garlic and paprika, in butter, to deliver a wallop of caramelized tomato flavor. Then, add water and pasta; as the pasta cooks, its starch will thicken the surrounding liquid. When Cheddar melts into the pot, it creates a glossy, creamy sauce with tang from the tomato and the Cheddar. Use cheese you grated yourself -- not store-bought shredded cheese -- so that it doesn’t clump.