Bacon Mac & Cheese with Green Chile Salsa

Note: Prep time above includes inactive time of roasting salsa veggies and bringing cheese to room temperature. Active prep time is about 1 hour. Feel free to omit the salsa and just make the mac and cheese, with or without bacon!

Remove the cheeses from the refrigerator to stand at room temperature for one hour. Leave one cup of grated cheddar in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 450 F. In an old, well-seasoned rimmed baking pan (it will get dirty from the sugars in the tomatillo juices), place poblano and jalapeno peppers, cut side up, and the whole tomatillos. Roast for about 30 minutes, turning the tomatillos and rotating the pan halfway through. The peppers will blacken and the tomatillos should turn at least golden. Remove from oven. Allow to cool slightly.

Pan fry the bacon (in a skillet over medium low heat, turning occasionally) while the salsa vegetables roast. Then remove it from the skillet and drain bacon on a couple layers of paper towels. Chop bacon into bite sized pieces, about ½ inch in size (not bacon bits) and set aside.

To finish the salsa, discard the juices from the pan with the vegetables, roughly chop the tomatillos and roasted peppers, and place in a food processor or blender. Add cilantro and habanero pepper and pulse about 10 times, until the mixture is chopped but still chunky. Stir in tomato, red onion, green pepper, canned chilies, salt, and pepper (to taste). You’ll need half the prepared salsa for the mac and cheese—the rest can be stored in the refrigerator up to a week.

Reduce oven temperature to 375 F. Heat a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and make the cheese sauce in the meantime. In a medium saucepan, heat cream over medium. Continue to raise heat, if needed, so the cream just begins to boil softly. A skin may form on the surface, which is fine—you don’t need to stir. Turn off heat.

Add the grated, room temperature cheeses and the salt and pepper to the hot cream and whisk quickly until the cheese is completely melted, a couple minutes. Set aside.

Once the water boils, add pasta and cook according to package instructions for al dente. Here’s my exact timing (using Trader Joe’s brown rice penne): set timer for 6 minutes and 30 seconds, maintaining high heat and returning to a boil. Turn off heat and allow pasta to sit in the water for 30 more seconds, then drain, but don’t rinse. Pasta should be quite al dente. It will continue to cook in the oven, and the worst thing you can do to gluten-free noodles is overcook them.

Remove ¾ cups of the cheese sauce from the pan you prepared it in. To the remaining sauce, add the pasta and the chopped bacon. Stir well.

To assemble, distribute mac and cheese amongst four large ramekins or pour into a medium sized (1.5 to 2 quart size) casserole dish. Pour remaining cheese sauce over the top. Spread ¼ cup of the green salsa over each ramekin (or 1 cup over the casserole), if using. Top with the remaining cup of refrigerated grated cheddar. Place ramekins on a baking tray for easier handling.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cheddar is melted and beginning to brown. Remove from oven. Cool for 5 minutes. If serving in ramekins, place each on a plate or potholder and be sure to caution your diners about the hot vessels!