Austin Mac and Cheese Suiza

I’m a huge fan of mac & cheese! I have moved away from the boxed version (though Annie’s is delicious if you must do boxed) and make my mac from scratch. It takes extra time to make your mac from scratch but it’s so yummy and you can share what you make. This recipe includes a few veggies and it has a crispy crust, making it a little bit like a hot dish. Be ready to spend a little time on this, and be prepared for lots of dirty dishes.

Depending on the type of pepper jack cheese you use this can get to be a little spicy. I like spicy food but I’m not the only one who eats this when I make it so I make sure it’s not too spicy. True story: I was serving this dish to guests one evening. One of the guest’s plates was almost clean and she was raving about how wonderful the mac was and asked what was in it. I rattled off the list of ingredients leaving the pepper jack cheese and jalapeno as the last ingredients. Suddenly, the dish was spicy to her. I just smiled.

During the summer I grow jalapenos in my garden. Since I can never use as much as I grow I like to seed them, chop them up and freeze them on a cookie sheet. This way I can put them in a container in the freezer and pull out the amount of jalapenos I need when a recipe calls for them. With little one at home it’s nice to not have spicy fingers!

Instead of buying a bag of tortilla chips for just this I save the broken pieces and crumbs from other bags of chips that we eat. Typically I would throw these out so it cuts back on food waste to save these until I need them.

Salt

1 pound cavatappi or other short pasta

1 pound tomatillos, husked, rinsed and halved

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, grated

2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon cumin (about 1/3 palmful)

1/3 cup cilantro (a generous handful), finely chopped

Juice of 1 lime

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

1 cup vegetable stock or broth

Pepper

1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded

1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

2 cups crushed tortilla chips, preferably flaxseed

1 cup pepper Jack cheese, shredded

1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream (optional)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, then return to the pot.

While the pasta is working, using a food processor, pulse the tomatillos until chopped. In a medium size saucepan, heat the EVOO, one turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and jalapeños and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatillos, honey and cumin; season with salt. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice.

In a medium size saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour for 1 minute, then whisk in the milk and vegetable stock; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the Swiss and Monterey Jack cheeses.

Pre-heat the broiler.

Add the cheese sauce to the pasta and toss. Spread half of the pasta in a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish and top with half of the tomatillo sauce; repeat the layers. Sprinkle the chips and pepper Jack cheese on top. Broil until browned, 3-5 minutes. Serve with the crème fraîche, if using.

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