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This past weekend we headed down South to Louisiana to celebrate our niece’s 4th birthday. I could live in the South all winter! They had the most amazing weather this weekend. Mid-70’s and abundant sunshine. The birthday party had about 20 kids (omg that was insane, haha I’ve never experienced that before; something to look forward to, right?) and they were all running around in the yard with a t-shirt and jeans. So nice! At the opposite end of the spectrum, in the DC-area, we were bombed with a snow storm. I think we got around 10-11 inches? I’m not quite sure but everyone was like, ‘omg the roads are so bad’ and when I looked up our area on Google maps, there were SOO many accidents and the roads were all colored red. We definitely lucked out.
But now we’re back and dreaming of their warm weather. Now it makes me long for Spring even more! Lucky me, though, I’m heading down to Florida and The Caribbean later this week so I don’t have to long for warm weather too much longer ;)
I love cooking with chorizo. I just love the spice and the flavors that are packed up into the sausage. There are so many dishes on this blog that I’ve made with chorizo. I think it’s my favorite mixture of meat.
This recipe was basically a ‘what do I have in the fridge and pantry that I can throw in a dish?’ kind of dinner. I had halves of everything because of recipe development for the cookbook so this chorizo mac and cheese worked out perfectly that the serving size is for two. Spicy, creamy, cheesy, and so full of flavor! You’ll love this for any day of the week! :)
Chorizo Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (150 g) dried cavatappi or any swirled pasta
- ¾ pounds (340 g) fresh chorizo sausage, casings removed
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (237 ml) milk
- 2 ½ cups (283 g) freshly grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
- Kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain when pasta is done cooking.
- In a large skillet, brown chorizo over medium-high heat and break it up into pieces with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add green bell pepper and cook until softened. Place chorizo and bell peppers into a large bowl and set aside.
- Return skillet to medium-high heat and melt butter. Whisk in the flour and cook it for about 30 seconds to cook off the raw flour taste. Add the milk and let thicken, about 3-4 minutes. Add the cheese and salt and stir until all the cheese has melted. Remove from heat.
- Add chorizo and bell peppers back in, toss to incorporate.
- Carefully add the pasta into the cheese sauce mixture and stir to incorporate everything evenly.
- Divide into bowls and serve.
SOOO EASY and omg are you even joking with that chorizo? I hope not. Cuz I’mONEGITINTHAT.
(sorry for all the yelling)
This looks so cheesy and yummy! Love that you added chorizo!
THIIIIIS. <3 I need this mac and cheese in my life immediately.
Brilliant twist on a classic! I love the idea of using sausage in mac & cheese, can’t wait to give this a try!
This looks fantastic! The perfect winter comfort food – with a kick! Think it will freeze?
xo Rachel
Caleb loves Mac and Cheese… this looks delicious!
The addition of chorizo puts this mac over the top!!
Wow! I can’t believe I never thought to put chorizo in my mac n cheese before. I am definitely going to be making this only with soy chorizo instead. Thanks for the recipe!
I just drooled a little. Yup, it’s true.
Oh where is my fork- I want a huge bowl of this!