New Mexico Chile Mac and Cheese
New Mexico Chiles are the dried form of the Red Anaheim Pepper. This chile has a thin flesh with an earthy chile flavor and undertones of wild cherries. This chile ranges from 2 – 4 on a heat scale of 1 to 10. The New Mexico Chile may be referred to as the California Chile or Chile Colorado. New Mexico Chiles are commonly used in Red Mexican or Southwestern sauces and is grown in Mexico. This mildly hot chile. Scoville heat units 8,000 – 12,000.
Suggested Use:
New Mexico Chiles are mildly hot and very popular in Southwest cooking. Great in sauces, salsa, rice dishes, stews and soups. Add directly to the cooking liquid along with other spices. Use in stir fry, or add to chicken or fish marinades.
Ingredients:
1 lb. large elbow macaroni
7 T. butter
1/4 c. + 2 T. all purpose flour
4 c. non-fat milk (use 2% or whole if you like)
1/4 t. dried mustard
1 pinch of cayenne
1/2 t. salt
1 lb. New Mexico chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded and diced into 1/2 in. pieces (~1 1/2 c. chiles)
3 c. Beecher’s flagship cheese (or good white cheddar)
1 c. parmesan, divided
1 c. dried breadcrumbs (use less if you’re using the finely ground ones)
Non-stick vegetable spray
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a dutch oven or large soup pot, cook pasta according to package directions, with a good handful of salt, reducing cook time by 1-2 minutes. Drain pasta.
Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick vegetable spray. Pour pasta into the pan and set aside. Place all but 1/4 c. of the chiles on top of the noodles in an even layer. In a small bowl, mix together breadcrumbs and 1/2 c. parmesan cheese.
In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over low heat. Add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes until the floury-ness is gone. Whisking, add the milk in a stream and turn the heat up to medium. Add the mustard, cayenne, salt and remaining chiles. Bring just to a boil, whisking frequently. Cook for 2-3 minutes more until the sauce is thickened.
Remove from the heat and stir in the Beecher’s and 1/2 c. parmesan cheese. Salt to taste.
Pour the cheese sauce over the noodles. Top with breadcrumb mixture and bake for 30 minutes, until cheese is bubbling and breadcrumbs are browned.
Adapted from dailywaffle.com