Creamy baked pasta dish made with Hatch chile peppers
Servings 8
Author Cookie Madness
Ingredients
3hatch chili peppersmild or spicy
10cupsof water
1teaspoonchicken or vegetable soup base
14 to 16ouncesof penne pasta
2cupsof sour cream or a mixture of sour cream and good yogurt
¼cupheavy creamycompletely optional!
2cupsMexican style shredded cheeseMonterey Jack etc.
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Roast the peppers. Slit the chili peppers down the center, scrape out the seeds and arrange on a large foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 450F for about 10 minutes or until the pepper’s skins have blistered. Turn and bake for a few more minutes. Remove from the oven and using tongs, transfer to a heavy duty freezer bag or a bowl with a lid. Seal the hot peppers in the bag (or cover bowl) and let cool. When cool, remove from bags, peel away skins, chop.
Bring 10 cups of water to a boil. Stir in the soup base. You can also add a little salt to the water if you want. Add pasta and boil until al dente (7 to 12 minutes depending on type).
Meanwhile, in a food processor or blender, process the sour cream, and chopped chile peppers.
Drain the pasta and toss it with the sour cream mixture and 1 cup of the shredded cheese. If you feel like it, add a little cream. At this point you can add some salt and pepper to taste, but I never do.
Arrange in a greased 9x13 inch casserole dish and cover with foil. Bake at 375 F. for about 10 minutes, then sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. Bake uncovered for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Notes
To halve the recipe, halve all ingredients and bake in an 8 inch square casserole dish (1 to 1 ½ quarts). The amount of hatch peppers is a suggestion. Use however many you want! Also, the soup base just adds a touch of flavor to the pasta. You can skip it if need be, but if you skip it make sure to salt the water.