JALAPENO POPPER MAC-N-CHEESE
INGREDIENTS
16 oz - Macaroni (We used Ziti because it has more bite to it)
3 Cloves - Garlic
16 oz - Cheddar Cheese
8 oz - Parmesan Cheese
10 oz - Gouda Cheese
8 oz - Mozzarella Cheese
Salt and Black Pepper To Taste
4 Tbsp - Flour
16 oz - Bacon
5 Whole - Jalapenos
1.5 Cup - Milk
4 Tbsp - Butter
2 - 3 Oz - Cream Cheese
1 Tbsp - red Pepper Flakes
1 Cup - Panko
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta until desired doneness.
2. Shred the cheese. We used a mandoline, but that took too long, so we ended up just chopping it by hand into cubes.
3. Prepare the jalapeno poppers. Cut the stem off the jalapenos and then carefully slice them the long way. Remove the seeds and then fill it with cream cheese. Cut the bacon in half and wrap the jalapeno. Save one half of a jalapeno for the sauce.
4. Cook the jalapeno poppers in the oven (or air fryer) at 350 for about 5-8 minutes, or until 90% cooked.
5. Chop the saved jalapeno half, garlic, and bacon into small pieces.
6. In a pot, cook the butter and bacon bits until the bacon edges starts to golden.
7. Add the milk and 2 tbsp of flour. Continuously stir until the sauce thickens.
8. Add the cheese, mix, and allow it to melt slightly. Then add in the jalapeno and red pepper flakes (this is optional, purely for color and to increase the spice level).
9. Once the cheese is melted and peppers are incorporated, add in your cooked pasta. Mix until everything is combined. At this time, taste your mac-n-cheese and add salt/black pepper to your liking.
10. Transfer to a baking pan. Top it off with the almost cooked jalapeno poppers and panko. We added some cheese on top for more cheesiness, but it's totally optional.
11. Bake until the jalapeno poppers get fully cooked and the cheese starts to brown. Depending on your oven settings, this may take about 15-20 minutes.
12. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Serve with extra jalepeno poppers on the side.
VIDEO
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Helpful Tips
- You could buy pre-shredded cheese, however, it's not recommended. Whatever they're adding to the cheese to keep it separated will do that to the cheese in your dish. Best to just buy the blocks and carefully shred it yourself.
- Many online recipes add Sodium citrate (not citric acid) to their recipes to help the cheese to stay smooth and not clumpy. Sodium citrate is an emulsifier which helps combine the oils in the cheese and the water in the rest of the sauce. We didn't include it in our recipe, but if you want to add it to yours, we recommend dissolving it in some water and then pouring it into the sauce in step 7.