Pesto mac & cheese

I love mac & cheese, especially my mother's from-scratch mac & cheese. Lately she's been baking it with three cheeses! Anyway, I was craving mac & cheese but wanted to be creative. Recently, I purchased some potted herbs including basil. Aha! Pesto mac & cheese. I searched the web for a recipe and combined two; one from Land O'Lakes (I know!) and the other from chez us.

Ingredients

• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
• about 4 oz cheddar cheese, grated (reserve some for crust)
• parmesan for crust
• about 2 cups pasta (your choice)
• fresh oregano (to taste), chopped
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• pesto (homemade using basil, parmesan, olive oil, walnuts, garlic, salt and pepper)
• buttered ramekins

Preparations

Prepare pesto (I used a blender). Boil pasta. Reserve some pasta water. Saute chopped onion in oil and butter. Add milk and the grated cheese to the onion. When cheese is melted, add cooked pasta and enough pasta water to achieve desired sauce consistency. Stir in oregano. Portion into buttered ramekins. Top with cheddar and parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes in a 350 F. oven.