Pesto Mac 'n' Cheese

Mmmmm. I love pesto sauce. And I love macaroni and cheese. I don't even mind cooking dinner for myself if it means combining those two delicious things. Recently, I found some pesto at the Little Waitrose down the street, and I couldn't pass it up. I should probably look into making my own pesto, but for now, let's go with what I've got. Anyway, after a busy day of homework and traipsing around London (in very touristy places that were overrun by slow tourists who like to stand in the way looking confused), I decided to treat myself with some pesto macaroni and cheese. However, the way I tend to operate in the kitchen is I think of something that sounds good, and I just experiment. So that's what I did tonight. I found a good start for my sauce, and I think future experiments will improve on it.

Here's what I used:
Pesto
Laughing Cow cheese (you know I'm addicted to it)
Grated parmesan cheese
Shredded cheddar cheese
Skim milk
Pepper
Noodles of choice

First, get a pot of water boiling to cook the pasta. I always like to add olive oil and salt to my boiling water. Once it's up to a boil, cook the pasta according to the directions, until al dente. I usually just let it go to town; when you cook as much pasta as me, you can eyeball when it's ready!

While that's going, get a smaller pot for your sauce. I stuck a wedge of laughing cow cheese in the pot over low heat to let it start melting. I put in about 1/4 cup of the pesto sauce, and stirred. You should probably grate your cheese prior to making the sauce, but I decided to just shred right over the pot and occasionally stir it in. Put however much cheese you'd like in; you already have a great consistency with the pesto sauce, you're just adding cheese for flavor. In my case, I'm addicted to cheese, so I put probably 1/2 a cup in total.

Depending on the consistency of the sauce, add a bit of milk in. You may opt for no milk, which is fine. Be careful not to put too much in, as it can cause the cheese and milk to separate. Anyway, this is something I can improve on next time; like, say, starting with a traditional cheese sauce and adding pesto to it.

I sprinkled in some pepper, and let the sauce sit on the lowest heat setting possible while I drained the pasta. Then fold the pasta into the sauce, and you're ready to go! I meant to top it all with some rosemary garlic breadcrumbs, but forgot because I was hungry and it looked good.

If it's green, it counts as a vegetable, right?

The end result? It certainly could have been prepared in a better way, but it tasted phenomenal. Pesto and mac 'n' cheese really ought to be combined more often.

Here are some things I would recommend experimenting with, and things I will probably try in the future (when I have them on hand):

Smoked cheese (I usually go gouda, but any cheese with a smokey flavor really adds to mac 'n' cheese)
Jalapeños
Cottage cheese for a moister mix (this is best for baked mac 'n' cheese)
Broccoli

Update: I re-made this tonight (March 3rd) and it was fantastic!

Tonight, I used two wedges of Laughing cow instead of one, and didn't use any milk or cheddar cheese. I added some lemon juice to it however, which gives the sauce a wonderful tang along with the other flavors. Put however much parmesan cheese in as you fancy, sprinkle some garlic and rosemary in, and prepare for a quick, easy, and delicious meal!

Any other suggestions or ideas to try? Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!