I know that just looking at it, this does not appear to be revolutionary, but when you see the method, you will be amazed. Get this: you cook the pasta IN the milk. Amazing.
You know how you have those days when you really don't want to make what you planned to make for dinner? I seem to particularly have those days when Joe is on-call or I'm eating dinner alone for some reason, like last Tuesday. And then my friend Erin (One Particular Kitchen Erin, not to be confused with Erin's Food Files Erin even though they're both fellow Nashvillians) mentioned that she had made this macaroni and cheese from Cate's blog. And just like that, I was going to be making macaroni and cheese for dinner. I added some steamed broccoli from our CSA and a bit of tuna and used some smoked Gouda that I had in the fridge. With the whole wheat pasta, I almost didn't feel guilty eating a big bowl of delicious, easy, only-dirtied-one-pot macaroni and cheese for dinner. The sauce was a little on the runny side, but if I had baked it, that problem might have resolved itself.
Revolutionary Macaroni and Cheese
source: Cate's World Kitchen
Ingredients
2 cups dried pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
2 cups 2% milk
1 cup loosely packed shredded cheddar cheese (I used gouda)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 can tuna (optional)
1 head broccoli, chopped and steamed (optional)
Preparation
Combine the pasta and milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring, with the heat low for about 20 minutes (until the pasta is soft). Make sure the milk doesn’t boil!
Stir in the mustard, salt, and cheese (if you’re going to bake it, reserve about 1/4 cup of the cheese for sprinkling over the top).
Cover and let stand for about 5 minutes, then stir well to serve.
