Mac & Cheese, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning could have written a sonnet with reverence to the wonders of mac & cheese, especially this Green Chili Mac & Cheese.
We love the easy preparation using dry milk powder instead of fussing with a béchamel sauce. As a plus, this recipe can be cooked in a slow cooker without the sauce breaking because it uses dry milk powder instead of fresh dairy. Find Hess Street Foods Verde Chorizo Paste at H-E-B or Central Market stores.
Want to make double or even triple the recipe? No problem, just increase the ingredients by the appropriate amount. (A 6-quart slow cooker will hold up to 3 times this recipe.)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (2 cups) dry Pasta (elbows, shells or spirals)
- 2 tablespoons Dry Milk Powder (any milk powder of choice: whole, non fat, A2/A2 or goat)
- 2 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 1 1/2 cups boiling Water
- 1 tablespoon Chicken Bouillon Paste
- 2 heaping tablespoons Hess Street Foods Verde Chorizo Paste
- 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Preparation
- Cook pasta according to package directions, then drain.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly butter a 2 quart baking dish and set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, in a large bowl, mix dry milk powder and flour. When pasta is almost finished, add boiling water to the dry mix, then add butter and whisk to combine. Add chicken bouillon paste and Hess Street Verde Chorizo Paste, whisk again. Add cooked and drained pasta, half the shredded cheese blend and stir gently with a spatula. Add additional 1 cup of the cheese blend and stir gently to combine. Transfer to baking dish. Cover with foil.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Continue baking 2 – 3 minutes or until cheese melts.
- Alternate cooking method: Add all cheese to mixture, then transfer pasta and cheese mixture to a slow cooker. Cook covered on low heat for 2 – 3 hours, or high for 1 – 1.5 hours. Stir occasionally.
Wine Pairing Guide
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