One Pot Macaroni and Cheese

I read somewhere that for a creamy mac and cheese you could cook the noodles in milk. What an idea! So I decided to try it...

Ingredients:

• 1 c. pasta (I used penne and it worked fine, spiral might be good also)
• 1 c. milk (I used skim, you could use 1 or 2% for a fuller flavor)
• 1 tbsp. butter (not totally necessary but I felt like I had to use it)
• 1/2 c. cheese (any kind you like! I used parmesan, and two string cheeses (one regular one colby) that I found in the back of my refrigerator... don't judge me)
• Salt and pepper
• Garlic salt (optional)
• Cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Put pasta and milk in saucepan on the stove over medium heat
2. Stir constantly (otherwise the noodles start sticking together... which happened to me), until the milk starts to bubble
   
3. Turn to low, and keep stirring until all the milk is absorbed. This took me around 20 minutes. Don't get impatient and raise the temperature!
   
4. When the milk is absorbed, try one of the noodles to make sure they're cooked through
5. Add shredded cheese and stir until fully melted
6. Put cover on pan and let sit for a few minutes
7. Put on plate, add salt and pepper, and if you like it, garlic salt. I also think cayenne pepper would be good with this if you wanted a kick

I didn't realize how long the milk would take to absorb so I was starving by the time this was done and wolfed it down. I never thought I'd say this... but it might have been TOO cheesy! I didn't realize how creamy the noodles would be just from skim milk. Next time I would add less cheese (adjusted in ingredients, I used 1 c.).  This would be really fun to experiment with different types of cheeses. The next time I do this, I want to use a sharp cheddar.

Enjoy!

Kelsey