Smoked Poblano & Manchego Mac 'n' Cheese
When I was living in Charleston, South Carolina, before living in a van full time, I did some side gigs outside my regular cooking job.
I once did a chef takeover at this super-cute wine and tapas bar downtown, serving a menu of my creation. My menu that night was three different kinds of mac 'n' cheese and I called the menu "macnage à trois." Get it? Three dishes. Sexy food. I'll wait here.
Anyways, I ended up selling out and people raved about it for some time after. The experience gave me the idea to sell mac 'n' cheese around town for extra cash. I would create a menu of at least four or five variations of this childhood staple and deliver trays to people.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting creative with all the different ways you can put these ingredients together, and it kind of became my little niche for a while.
This one is a personal favorite and an ode to my not-so-starving artist days.
- *This is an edited extract from Tiny Kitchen Feast by Natalie Rodriguez, published by Hardie Grant Explore. Photography by Abigail Marie Rodriguez.
Ingredients
- 16 oz (450 g) macaroni, or your favorite pasta (I like rigatoni)
- 2 poblano peppers
- 2 cups half-and-half (low-fat) milk*
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
- 1 teaspoon dried mustard powder
- teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
- 1 bay leaf
- 10 oz (280 g) Manchego cheese, grated*
- 1-2 oz (30-55 g) white cheddar, or your favorite cheese, grated*
- * To make this dish vegan, substitute plant-based milk and your favorite vegan cheese.
Method
- Cook pasta according to the packet in a pot of salted water. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water, and drizzle with oil to prevent clumping. Set aside.
- Broil the poblano peppers in the oven on a sheet tray until mostly blackened. Submerge in water to peel off the skin and remove the seeds and stem. Discard the water.
- Blend in a high-speed blender with 1 cup of the half-and-half milk and garlic. Add a little salt.
- To a large saucepan, add the butter, flour, dried mustard and paprika, and stir with a spatula over a medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir often so the flour doesn't burn.
- Whisk in the reserved pasta water, remaining milk, and bay leaf. Stir continuously until smooth and creamy.
- Add salt and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Cut the heat and stir in the cheeses. Toss in the pasta.
You can serve as-is or transfer to a baking pan, top with extra cheese, and broil (grill) in the oven until the cheese is bubbly and golden.
Bold and dynamic dishes cooked up in the smallest spaces
Natalie's book Tiny Kitchen Feast is a fresh and exciting cookbook with more than 60 plant-based recipes, inspired her life on the road. As a trained chef and 'vanlifer', Natalie shows us that cooking in a tiny kitchen can result in bold, dynamic and 'un-boring' meals.
Life on the road doesn't mean sacrificing good food. Alongside her delicious and flavourful recipes drawn from her Puerto Rican heritage, Natalie reveals the lessons she's learned while cooking on the road.
Along with her wife Abigail, Natalie started an Instagram account and the YouTube channel Let's Play Ride and Seek (which have over 30K and 41K followers respectively) where she shares jaw-dropping photos of her travels as well as delicious recipe reels. Her easy and accessible recipes are proof that wholesome food can be made by any cook, in almost any space.
This book is perfect for the home cook who is looking for bold and flavourful dishes but might not have a spacious kitchen. Start the day with a C.B.L.T. (coconut bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich), before moving onto tantalising appetisers like roasted-strawberry bruschetta and campfire-inspired grilled tempeh kabobs with miso-plum glaze. Natalie also provides new twists on hearty favourites like smoked poblano and Manchego mac 'n cheese, as well as saffron pineapple lemonade.
Tiny Kitchen Feasts is a book of interesting, plant-based recipes to cook in any (tiny) space.
The book is out now and published by Hardie Grant Explore, and retails for $39.99.
For more information visit hardiegrantgift.com.au/books/tiny-kitchen-feast-9781741178814
