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World Famous Green Chile Mac & Cheese

Roaring Fork Green Chile Mac & Cheese | LunaCafe

LunaCafe OtherWorldly Green Chile Mac & Cheese

Even folks (MauiJim) who are not especially enamored of traditional Mac & Cheese, love this hot and spicy, chile-laden version. For a rustic effect, serve in individual iron skillets or kettles.

Pasta
1 pound, short, dried, tubular pasta, such as mini penne, garganelli, maccheroni, mostaccioli, tortiglione, or ziti (about 2¼ pounds cooked)
2 teaspoons sea salt

Breadcrumb Topping
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 cups dried white bread crumbs, coarsely crumbled
2 clove garlic, pressed or minced
sea salt, to taste

Cheeses
9 ounces Tillamook White Extra Sharp Cheddar (aged over 2 years) or Beecher’s Flagship (aged for 1 year)
9 ounces Queso Asadero cheese
1½ ounces (about 3/4 cup) finely grated Parmesan

Cream Sauce
2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup minced yellow onion (4 ounces or about ½ large onion)
 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups Green Chile Crema
 sea salt, to taste

Garnish
½ cup stemmed, ribbed, seeded, red bell pepper
½ cup stemmed, ribbed, seeded, orange bell pepper
½ cup stemmed, ribbed, seeded, green poblano or Anaheim pepper
½ cup fresh sweet corn sea salt, to taste freshly ground black pepper, to taste

    1. Coat an 8- to 10-cup capacity, ovenproof casserole with vegetable spray or a dab of butter; or coat six 1½-cup capacity stoneware ramekins or iron skillets. Reserve.
    2. To prepare the pasta, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil, add 2 teaspoons of salt, return to a boil, and add the pasta. Cook until still VERY al dente. Do not cook until fully tender.
    3. Remove the pasta pot from the stove and carefully pour the water and pasta into a large colander to drain. Run cold water over the pasta to cool it to room temperature. Add pasta to a large mixing bowl.
    4. Toss the pasta in the bowl with all of the cheeses and reserve.
    5. To make the breadcrumb topping, in a small mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, bread crumbs, and garlic. Season to taste with sea salt. Reserve.
    6. To make the cream sauce, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter, add the onions, and slowly cook until onions are just beginning to soften.
    7. Add the peppers and corn, and stir to coat with butter.
    8. Stir in the flour and cook without browning for two minutes.
    9. Slowly pour in the Green Chile Crema and whisk constantly while bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer, whisking continuously, for 2 minutes.
    10. Season to taste with sea salt.
    11. To finish the dish, pour the sauce over the pasta and cheeses in the bowl. With a large spatula, fold to combine.
    12. Spoon into the prepared casserole, mounding slightly at the center.
    13. Sprinkle on the breadcrumb topping.
    14. Bake at 350º for 30-40 minutes for the single casserole or 10-15 minutes for individual ramekins, until heated through and just bubbling. (High heat or excessively long cooking time may curdle the cheeses.)
    15. Broil for a minute or two to finish browning the top.

Serves 6-8.

Copyright 2009-2017 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. This recipe looks great! Just curious approximately how much salt and pepper would be a good starting point?

  2. Susan, so much for the quick reply, appreciate you taking the time to make the corrections. One more quick question, how early in advance can I make this dish? We have a 14 month old so I was hoping to make it while she naps… but I dont want it to be soggy for dinner time.

    I’m also a little bummed because I couldn’t find Tillamook white cheddar at whole foods or the frozen green chilies, so I had to use a different brand of cheese and canned green chilies! Hope it still turns out great!

    Happy New Years!

    • Anisa, this dish can be made ahead and reheated. Simply under cook the pasta a bit so that it doesn’t get “bloated” soaking up the sauce. Hope it turns out great. Happy New Year! 🙂

  3. Hi! I am excited to make this dish tomorrow but I noticed some of the steps and ingredients don’t follow the recipe sections (cream sauce and garnish). It seems like the garnishes actually part of the sauce preparation and not actually true garnish (hence step 7). Thoughts?

      • Anisa and Shawn, for some strange reason the corrections I made to the recipe are not holding. There should be no Garnish list in the ingredients. These ingredients are part of the Cream Sauce, as follows:

        Cream Sauce
        2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup minced yellow onion (4 ounces or about ½ large onion)
        ½ cup stemmed, ribbed, seeded, red bell pepper
        ½ cup stemmed, ribbed, seeded, orange bell pepper
        ½ cup stemmed, ribbed, seeded, green poblano or Anaheim pepper
        ½ cup fresh sweet corn

        ¼ cup all-purpose flour
        3 cups Green Chile Crema
        sea salt, to taste
        freshly ground black pepper, to taste

        The directions are correct however.

  4. Hello! Can you clarify step 7 under cream sauce “add peppers and corn” ? I didn’t see listed in ingredients? I am making this in a few days and can’t wait to taste!

  5. Love this recipe! I added a few tomatillos and about 3/4 lb. of chorizo, and the result was, if possible, even better.

  8. This looks wonderful–I love the addition of the tomatillos! And I am both entertained by and impressed by your determination to figure out the dish from what they have in their cookbook lol…

  9. I LOVE this recipe…well, I love the sound of it since I haven’t made it yet but will DEFINITELY be putting this on a to make list!

  10. This looks amazing. I love a good twist on a classic, plus reviving or outwardly saying what didn’t work the first time around so heding back to the kitchen for round 2 or 3. Great recipe!

  11. Wow! Thank you for your efforts above and beyond! This looks so savory and satisfying – I can\’t wait to try it! I really like the idea of adding the tomatillos: such a great way to bring a little acidity and still keep inside the profile. Beautifully executed.

  13. I love that you have turned into the Harriet the Spy of cooking! Next, you’ll be working for Cook’s Illustrated! I’ll be going to Scottsdale in November and will have to have the original version as well. Good work!

  15. I love mac and cheese in all its forms, and I’m also a fan of green chiles so I think this combination would be heavenly! Can’t wait to try!

  16. When I lived in Flagstaff one of my favorite memories was the giant drum roaster full of Hatch green chiles. I’ bought a 5-pound bag, put it in my backpack, and rode home on my bike with that aroma of fresh-roasted chiles following me the whole way.

    • Jameson, I look forward to the giant drum roaster that arrives at Portland Farmers Market every September. The aroma of those roasting chiles wafts over the entire market. So amazing!

  17. Wow although I never had the original version, just the fact that it is spicy makes me want to try!

  18. Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I in finding It truly useful & it helped me out much. I am hoping to offer one thing back and aid others like you helped me.

  19. I can’t thank you enough for posting this recipe! I too tasted the Roaring Fork green chili mac n cheese, purchased the cookbook, and was disappointed with the obviously incorrect result. It’s been Eight Years on and off that I’ve been making variations of it trying to get it right and this was by Far the best! Quick Tip: Most local grocery stores have “Asadero” cheese labelled as “Oaxaca,” it does not state Asadero anywhere on the label but it is the same thing. It’s just the shape that changes the name, brick form is Asadero while braided/ball is Oaxaca.
    Thanks again for posting! It’s definitely that green chili crema that sends it over the top =) mystery solved!

    • Virginia, thanks so much for letting us know how this turned out for you. The green chile crèma was definitely the breakthrough for me in the LunaCafe test kitchen. And thanks also for the tip on the cheese–good to know. 🙂

  20. Your recipe is the BOMB! I used hot NM chile and topped it with buttered panko breadcrumbs. Fresh corn cut off the cob takes it over the top in deliciousness.

  21. I own Bob’s cookbook, tried and true, the recipe was identical in flavor to Bob’s previous realm many moons ago at the Roaring Fork, must be the chef not picking the “right” poblano…sorry

  22. I made the crema with poblano chiles from Mexico that I purchased at the Mexican market in West Palm Beach (because the Whole Foods in FL don’t carry the Bueno brand)…even though they made my fingers burn after seeding & de-veining them, they didn’t have much heat in the final product. Also, couldn’t believe it but even the Mexican supermarcardo doesn’t carry the queso called for; so, they sold me the alternative, which was so similar to mozzarella, I should have saved the gas $$ to drive there. All in all, this was good; but, I had to add Tabasco Chipoltle sauce to heat it up and even then, it just wasn’t worth the work…will have to try the original if I get back to Scottsdale anytime soon. If I still lived in PDX (sigh) I could have bought the chiles at the Sat. Farmers’ Market and it would have probably been splendid.

  23. Oh my goodness, this was amazing! I live in Chicago, so green chile is hard to find. I was lucky enough to get a batch shipped from NM last year but I was nervous about using the last of it for a dish I’d never tried. Let me tell you, it was well worth it. SO delicious – thank you! I used panko crumbs for the topping and it was great.

  24. I like your rendention. Very creative. I actually have the official recipe though because I used to work at the RF and the green chili Mac was at my station lol. But this is a good recipe.

    • Hmmm… For the sake of all humanity, you could do the right thing and share that recipe with ME. Please? 🙂

  25. Have you ever tried making this ahead of time and bake it from the fridge? Looks really great and I want to try it at the restaurant I work at. Thanks in advance!

    • Matt, oh yes, you can definitely make it ahead. Let me know how it works out for your restaurant.

  26. Thank you for doing this. I was just looking for the Roaring Fork recipe but there was no way any of those recipes would have produced the results I was looking for. Can’t wait to try yours.

  27. This is AMAZING. If you have the crema already made its so much easier….. i used dry stuffing crumbs as the topping right before i put it in the oven. uhmmmm yeah good… my tastebuds thanked me.

  28. This looks FABULOUS!! I’m from Phx (now in CO) and I have had this dish at Roaring Fork. Thanks for taking the time to go through this recipe step-by-step and remedy it. I always wonder if restaurants DO leave out a few key ingredients so the home cook can never quite achieve the real thing. We always buy roasted Hatch green chiles from NM here in CO so I will probably be using those. Thanks! 🙂

    • Jennifer, it’s possible of course that the original recipe left with the original chef (Robert Mcgrath) and that what they make now uses a different recipe. Regardless, what they serve now is really spectacular, and I had to have it whenever and wherever. If you get a chance to try my recipe, let me know how close I came to the restaurant’s version. 🙂

  29. There better when you cut the tops off, take the seeds out, stuff it with cheese, tear a tortilla inhalf and stuff in inside to keep the cheese from melting out. BBQ style

  30. I am working on a recipe for Buffalo Chicken mac & cheese and I think this looks like the perfect mac & cheese base. Now I just add shredded roasted checken and buffalo chicken spiced bread crumbs as the topping.

  31. My family including the dog loves the Anaheim pepper. We often prepare it on the BBQ grill, just cut open and spread it over the grill to roast for a few minutes turn and it is down in one minute.

  33. I went to the Roaring Forks and loved this dish so I bought the cookbook. You are right, the guy is totally sandbagging on the recipe in the book. The version you printed is much better and closer to what is served in the restaurant. Thanks for printing it!

    • Minhaj, LOL! I’m so glad you affirmed that for everyone. The “official” recipe is not even in the ballpark. Well, it’s fine that they want to keep it a secret (I respect that), but what purpose is served in trying to deceive folks?

  34. This has become a favorite here in the hood. I made a slight variation in I used a cast iron dutch oven and cooked on my Big Green Egg to get a nice smoke flavor. My toughest task is getting the htach green chiles here in the ATL.

    • Tomas, that sounds so fantastic! What a great touch to imbue with smoky flavor. Can’t wait to try that.

  35. I was disappointed in how mine came out. It was dry and not creamy at all. The recipe says 3 cups of the chili creama even though it makes just about 6 cups. Are we suppose to use all of the creama in this recipe? I used 1# of the conchiglie pasta and made my own grilled peppers as our whole foods doesn’t carry the frozen ones although the guy in charge of the frozen section wrote down the info. I gave him your website and the recipe!

    The flavor is outstanding and I will use the left-over creama for either enchiladas or try this recipe again.

    The sauce is just beyond words!! Yummm!

    Nancy

    • Hmmm… I wonder what happened? In my multiple tests, the mac & cheese was very saucy and creamy. I purposely included enough thin sauce (3 cups) to compensate for the al dente pasta, as it will absorb some sauce during the baking time. But in your instance, the pasta must have absorbed too much of the sauce. Overbaking can cause this, so be sure not to go too long in the oven. Your instincts are good though in thinking you might add additional crema to the mac & cheese, even after you have baked it. Just drizzle a cup of additional crema over the dish and heat for another 10 minutes or so. Next time though, using that same pasta, increase the sauce to 4 to 4 1/2 cups. Hope this helps!

  36. This recipe is AWESOME! I just made it and it is the creamiest, best tasting mac I have ever made. It is VERY similar to The Roaring Fork dish in taste and creaminess. My compliments to the author. I was lucky enough to find a 27oz can of whole fire roasted, peeled poblano peppers by Hatch, in my supermarket. It made the Green Chili Crema really easy. Try it…you’ll love it!

    • Thank you so much, Bill, that’s wonderful to hear! 🙂 Mac & Cheese weather is upon us. I will be whipping this casserole up soon myself. Happy holidays! …Susan

  37. Wow, now I’m not a huge mac and cheese fan but my mouth is absolutely watering reading this. Great write up and very informative. This looks like the perfect mac and cheese I’d want to make, I love spicy and a good selection of yummy cheeses. I also really love the idea of the bread topping and corn too. I’ve never heard of queso asadero cheese though, what would it be most similar to if I can’t find that exact style of cheese?

    Thanks for this delicious recipe and write up, I really can’t wait to try it. I’ll let you know how it turns out. I might just turn into a mac and cheese fan afterall 🙂
    .-= Dana ´s last blog ..Is your dog afraid of Thunderstorms? A Superhero Cape or ‘Thunderwear’ may help! =-.

    • Thank you so much, Dana! 🙂 Queso Asadero is an interesting cheese. It is full flavored in a non aggressive sort of way,, rich, and very creamy. It has some of the characteristics I associate with processed cheese, but it isn’t processed. I enjoy the flavor but I include it in this mix of cheeses more for its superb melting quality. You can find it in some grocery stores or any Mexican market. If it’s not easy to get in your area, try mozzarella. Hope you love this dish as much as I do.

    • Hope everyone likes it, Emily. Maybe you could do Southwest rub on the turkey to set the stage. 🙂

  39. Really enjoyed the article and recipe. Can’t wait to try this! We recently moved from Colorado to Ohio (job transfer) and are very homesick for green chile anything. I think I might add some sliced chicken breast to it and make it a one pot meal. Thanks!!!

  41. We ate at the Roaring Fork on Sunday, and had this, it was amazaing!!! I am making it for fourth of July this weekend, can’t wait! Thank you

    • Thank you, Laurie! I’m feeling like a Mac & Cheese fix myself all of a sudden. Too bad the Roaring Fork isn’t just a wee bit closer to Seattle. 🙂

  42. I’ve eaten at Roaring Fork at least 10 times, every time I get steak with the green chili mac and cheese. It is the best! I can’t wait to try making this at home. But I do want to add that as far as I can remember, there is no corn in it. I hate corn in mac and cheese 😛

    Nicole Skillings´s last blog post..Fourth Judge Not Welcome

  45. Sounds and looks amazing! I love a good mac and cheese!

    Jeff´s last blog post..Grilled chicken wings with a chipotle dry rub

    • Sara, thank you! It is spicy but not “hot as hell” as Roaring Fork’s restaurant version is. If you make it with poblano chiles instead, it will have barely any heat.

  49. Oh, my. This looks fabulous! My boyfriend is a sucker for anything spicy and any and all types of mac n’ cheese… he will be in heaven when I make this…. Thanks!

Trackbacks

  7. […] Texas-born Chef Robert McGrath—author of American Western Cooking and one of Food and Wine magazine’s “10 Best Chefs in America”—is the genius behind this much sought-after dish served at Roaring Fork in Scottsdale, Arizona. The ingredients include a variety of sweet and hot peppers and fresh sweet corn, which give the dish its impossible-to-duplicate green hue and spicy kick. Photo courtesy of sms bradley/TheLunaCafe.com. […]

  9. […] Texas-born Chef Robert McGrath—author of American Western Cooking and one of Food and Wine magazine’s “10 Best Chefs in America”—is the genius behind this much sought-after dish served at Roaring Fork in Scottsdale, Arizona. The ingredients include a variety of sweet and hot peppers and fresh sweet corn, which give the dish its impossible-to-duplicate green hue and spicy kick. Photo courtesy of sms bradley/ TheLunaCafe.com. […]

  10. […] The Luna Cafe: World Famous Green Chile Mac & Cheese […]

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