Green Chile Mac & Cheese

A few weeks ago, I (Daughter) started thinking about green chile mac & cheese.  Comfort food with a touch of New Mexico flavor.  It became a little bit of an obsession, and here's what I came up with.  In my humble (HA!) opinion, this one's a keeper!

Ingredients:

2 c whole wheat rotini pasta

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cans peeled chopped green chiles

Olive oil

Cheese sauce:

2 tbsp butter

¼ c all-purpose flour

1 can green enchilada sauce

1 can evaporated fat free milk

1 tsp ground mustard

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

1/2 brick Neufchatel, (or reduced-fat cream cheese) cut into small cubes

1 ½ c pepper jack cheese, shredded

1 ½ c Mexican blend cheese, shredded (I used reduced-fat, and it worked well)

Topping:

½ c bread crumbs

¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tsp ground mace

2 tbsp butter, melted

1.        Preheat oven to 375° F

2.       Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook 10 minutes or until al dente.  Drain pasta.

3.       While pasta cooks, sauté onion and garlic together until onion is crisp-tender and opaque in color.  Add cooked onion & garlic and green chiles to cooked, drained pasta.  Spritz with olive oil to keep from sticking.  Set aside. 

4.       In a large saucepan over low heat, melt 2 tbsp butter.  Whisk in a little flour (about 1/4 of the total amount) and cook, stirring 1 minute.  A little at a time, whisk in green enchilada sauce, milk, the rest of the flour, ground mustard, and fresh ground black pepper.  Stir constantly.  Whisk in cheeses little by little until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Stir in cooked pasta and pour into shallow 2 quart baking dish.  I sprayed the baking dish with nonstick cooking spray first for easier clean-up.

5.       Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter.  Stir in bread crumbs, cayenne pepper, cumin, and mace.   Sprinkle over pasta mixture.

6.       Bake, covered in preheated oven 10 minutes.  Remove cover, and cook for an additional 10 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

I was FAR too eager to taste the final product, so I didn't get any good pics!

Serves: 8