Mac n’ Cheese

Indian Mexican Fusion Mac n’ Cheese ?

We always love the classic mac n’ cheese, but sometimes I find I like it to have a little kick to it. This variation is very flavourful. My favourite ingredients in this dish are the salsa, cilantro and of course, the jalapeños! They all get so nicely infused into the sauce and give an amazing flavour to the dish.

Ingredients

6 cups Elbow Macaroni or any small pasta shells such as fusilli
1 Onion chopped
1 jalapeno pepper chopped (optional)
1 medium tomato chopped
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup salsa

4 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 cups skim milk
2-3 tablespoons of butter
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3-4 cups cheddar cheese
2-3 tablespoons Avocado Oil

Directions

Prep                                     Cook                                     Ready in                           Serves

20 min                               30 min                                   50 min                                 6

 

  1. Preheat oven to 375º Fahrenheit.
  2. Boil Pasta on stovetop. Once pasta is boiled, pour into casserole dish and put aside until all other ingredients have been prepared.
  3. In a separate medium sized frypan heat Avocado oil. Once heated, add onions, cumin seeds, ginger and sauté at medium heat. Once translucent, add tomatoes and jalapeños. Sauté for 5-10 minutes on medium to high heat. Once tomatoes have softens and mixed well with the onions, add all the remaining spices. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the salsa and ketchup,stir and let simmer on low heat. Pour ingredients onto pasta and mix well.
  4. In a separate sauce pan, melt butter on low to medium heat. Add flour and brown with butter. Add milk and stir until sauce thickens. Add more milk if consistency is too thick. Once it has thickened, add one cup of cheese. Stir until cheese blends in. Once sauce is ready, pour onto pasta and mix well. Cover pasta with remaining cheese and top with Panko breadcrumbs and cilantro.
  5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cheese is slightly brown and bubbling.  Change oven settings to broil for 2 minutes if you like the top to be a little more crispy. Ready to serve!?

Pssst…….I’m a girl who loves her food SPICY, so I always have some variety of hot sauce on the side!:)