Green Tomato and Chipotle Mac & Cheese

in Chipotle peppers, Mac & Cheese, Pasta, Summer Tomatoes, Vegetarian

Green Tomato and Chipotle Mac & Cheese

Hello, summer. With your abundance of tangy green tomatoes, your abundance of soul-melting heat, and your abundance of why-waste-my-time-flat-ironing-my-hair-when-it’s-just-going-to-look-like-crap-in-11-seconds-anyway humidity.

I can only help you with one of those things. The other two can typically be fixed by drinking any one of these.

Green Tomato and Chipotle Mac & Cheese

This summery mac & cheese is spiked with minced chipotles in adobo and layered in a baking dish – and then topped – with thinly-sliced green tomatoes. The tangy tomatoes help cut the richness of the cheesy dish while the chipotles give you just enough heat to justify cooling off with that Fudge Bomb for dessert.

You know, if you’re still looking for an excuse.

Green Tomato and Chipotle Mac & Cheese

Green Tomato and Chipotle Mac & Cheese

A summery mac & cheese topped with tangy green tomatoes and spiked with spicy, smokey chipotle peppers.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb macaroni pasta
  • Salt
  • 16 oz grated cheese (I used half sharp cheddar, half colby jack)
  • 6 Tbsp butter, divided
  • 3 Tbsp flour
  • Pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp deli-style mustard (I use Creole)
  • 1-2 Tbsp minced chipotles in adobo (2 Tbsp for a spicier mac)
  • 4 cups milk
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs (2 slices of bread sent through a mini processor works perfectly)
  • 3 large green tomatoes, thinly sliced

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
  3. Bring salted water to boil and cook pasta for half the time suggested on the package.
  4. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the pasta from cooking.
  5. Leave the pasta draining in the sink and return the empty pasta pot to the cooktop over medium heat.
  6. Melt 4 Tbsp butter and whisk in 3 Tbsp flour.
  7. Let cook ~3 minutes, whisking occasionally.
  8. Add the garlic and whisk, cooking 1 minute more.
  9. Add the mustard, chipotles, and then slowly stream in the milk while whisking.
  10. Add a generous pinch of salt, fresh ground pepper, and let the sauce cook, whisking occasionally, until the mixture beings to bubble.
  11. Add the cheese and stir until it is completely melted.
  12. Turn off the heat and add the pasta back to the pot, stirring until evenly coated.
  13. Transfer half of the pasta to the baking dish and then layer half of the green tomatoes on top.
  14. Top with the remaining pasta and the remaining green tomato slices.
  15. Melt 2 Tbsp of butter and stir into the bread crumbs.
  16. Sprinkle the crumbs over the top of the dish.
  17. Bake for ~30 minutes, until the breadcrumbs have crisped to a golden brown and the pasta is bubbling.

Notes

Yields: 8-12 servings

Adapted from The Pastry Queen Parties

Estimated time: 1 hour

6 comments… add one
  • I’ve been craving mac and cheese and this looks fabulous! I love the spice and the green tomatoes!

  • Gwyn

    Pinned!! I’ve been looking for recipes for my green tomatoes! This sounds awesome.

  • Ok, this seriously could be the greatest mac and cheese I have ever seen. Love it!!

  • Okay, pinning now! I love the idea of green tomatoes in mac and cheese. And why is it that I crave mac and cheese in the summer more than winter? I do, and I keep telling myself “swimsuit, swimsuit, swimsuit” and yet it does nothing to stop those cravings. So I might just have to be a quitter and make this recipe…

  • MUST MAKE! As soon as I get my hands on some green tomatoes. Which hopefully will be soon.

  • Tess Danesi

    The best Mac-n-cheese ever! Love the green tomatoes in it and the smokiness of the chipotles.

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