Roasted Green Chile & Tomatillo Mac & Cheese

I adore macaroni and cheese.  It is the quintessential comfort food and is my favorite dish - to eat.  I specify, to eat, because unless it comes from the blue box, I have yet to achieve homemade macaroni and cheese perfection.  The finicky bechamels, the endless cheese grating, and the annoying need to bake the concoction all add up to frustration on my part as I strive for something that hearkens back to my childhood - creamy, cheesy, dreamy, and no silly breadcrumbs.

I'm not a purist necessarily and I will be the first to admit that there are a number of ingredients that can indeed enhance a bowl of mac & cheese, like bacon or broccoli.  When I came across the recipe for "Roasted Green Chile and Tomatillo Mac and Cheese" in the stove-top section of my new Macaroni & Cheese cookbook by Marlena Spieler, I knew I had to try it.  Green chiles and cheese?  Dynamite flavor combo!



Fixins:

• 1 Anaheim chile
• 3 to 5 green onions, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 bunch parsley, chopped (recipe called for cilantro, but no thank you - vile weed!)
• 12 oz small shell pasta
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
• 4 oz queso fresco, crumbled
• 4 oz aged Asiago, grated
• Drizzle of EVOO
• 4 to 5 Tbs salsa verde
• 1 lime, wedged

You leave some chile raw and roast the rest, then peel off the skin.  You combine those with the green onions, garlic, and parsley, and set them aside.  Then you cook the pasta, drain it, and toss it with sour cream and slowly add the cheeses.  The recipe says you add the cheese slowly to avoid clumps, and it worked well enough for me.  There really is a ton of cheese in here!  Then you add a little EVOO, the salsa, and the chile mixture and stir it all up.  Reserved pasta water is used to add moisture to the "sauce".

Result:

This dish has great depth of flavor and definitely sticks to your ribs.  It would be an excellent accompaniment to any Latin-themed main course, but is enough work to make that I'll assign it main dish status.  I enjoyed the flavors of all of the cheeses and the salsa verde.  The parsley was too leafy in the mix and I was still left yearning for some creaminess.  It was cheesy, just not creamy.

Repeat:
Yes, I'd make it again.  It gets the "happy husband" seal of approval.  Next time I'll cut down on the parsley, add more sour cream and pasta water, and I will take a smaller serving - bleh!  I'm so full!!