Chili Mac
Ingredients
8 oz.
dried short pasta noodles (such as macaroni)
3 cups
whole milk
3 tbsp.
Kowalski's Unsalted Butter
¼ cup
finely diced onion
½ lb.
ground beef
14-16 oz.
canned beans of your choice (such as chili beans, pinto beans or light red kidney beans), rinsed and drained
14.5 oz.
canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes
⅓ cup
Kowalski's Original or Bold Chili Starter (from the Spice Aisle)
3 tbsp.
flour
10 oz.
Boar's Head American Cheese, shredded or very finely diced (about 1 ½ cups shredded cheese)
- kosher salt and freshly ground Kowalski's Black Peppercorns, to taste
1 cup (approx.)
Kowalski's Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- thinly sliced green onion and finely chopped Italian parsley, for garnish (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Prepare pasta in salted water according to pkg. directions while preparing the sauce, slightly undercooking the pasta by about 2 min.; keep warm.
- In a small saucepan, heat milk but do not boil; keep warm.
- In an extra-large oven-safe sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add diced onion; cook until onion is translucent and soft (about 5 min.).
- Add beef; cook and crumble until dark brown and nearly cooked through (about 5 min.).
- Add beans, tomatoes and chili starter; cook and stir for 1 min.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Sprinkle flour evenly over chili mixture; cook for 1 min., stirring constantly.
- While continuing to stir, add warm milk; cook and stir until mixture is thick and smooth (about 5 min.).
- Remove pan from heat; stir in American cheese until smooth.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir hot, drained pasta into chili mixture; top with Cheddar cheese.
- Bake in preheated oven until cheese is bubbly (about 15 min.).
- Garnish as desired; serve immediately.
