1. Make sure the pasta is al dente. That is, not over cooked. The pasta should have a little bit to it. Cook it 1 minute less than what the package says
2. Salt the pasta water. This is the only opportunity to give the pasta some salt and flavor.
3. Add cheese a little at a time to the sauce. Make sure a batch of cheese completely melts into the sauce before adding more. This will help the sauce get nice and silky.
4. Add the cheese on low heat. If you add cheese when the sauce is too hot, it will clump up.
5. Make sure the cheese is finely shredded, it will melt better.

Most mac n cheese recipes will have you sprinkle bread crumbs on top and bake the whole thing in an oven. I usually never have patience for that! So I mix the cheese sauce with the pasta and eat it right away!

Hatch Chile Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients
½ lb pasta (elbow macaroni, spiral or cavatappi)
2 tablespoons butter
½ an onion, chopped
1 ½ tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup chopped roasted hatch chiles or green chiles. Freshly roasted or canned.

Method
1. Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water. When it is al dente, drain it and set aside. Make sure the pasta is not over cooked.
2. While the pasta is cooking, work on the sauce. Heat butter in a medium sauce pan. Add the onion and cook until it is soft, about 2 minutes.
3. Sprinkle the flour onto the butter and stir well. Cook on medium-low heat for about 1 minutes, stirring constantly. The flour should not brown. Now slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Let the sauce cook and come to a boil while whisking it constantly.
4. When the sauce has thickened, reduce the heat to low. Add one small hand full of the shredded cheese. Stir until it is completely melted into the sauce. Now add another hand full of cheese and stir it. Keep adding all the cheese one hand full at a time and making sure it is completely incorporated into the sauce before adding more.
5. Fold in the cooked pasta, green chiles and salt. Increase the heat and cook just until everything is hot.

Hatch chile season is short. So go buy some now and roast them right away; you wont regret it!
I like to use a cast iron skillet for roasting Hatch chiles, because it is heavy and conducts heat evenly. But any heavy skillet will do.

Roast the hatch chiles in a single layer until they are charred on both sides.

Make sure most the surface is charred.

Put the charred chiles in a ziplock bag. Close the bag. The chiles will steam in the bag. And the steam will loosen their skins, making it easy for you to peel.

Let the chiles sit in the bag until the skins loosen and they are cool enough to handle. Then peel away and discard the skin. You will now have succulent, home-roasted Hatch chiles.

Should you seed roasted Hatch chiles or keep the seeds? That’s up to you. The seeds contain some heat. So if you want things to be mild, seed the chiles. To do this, cut the chile vertically in half. Scrape away and discard the exposed seeds. Now chop up the chiles.

I love the flavor and heat of hatch chiles seeds, so I keep all the seeds!

Once chopped, spoon the chiles into smaller freezer bags. (Make sure the chiles are completely cool before feezing!). Gently press out the air. Seal the bag well. Date and label the freezer bag, and place it in the freezer.

How to use Hatch chiles

Green Chile Breakfast Quesadillas from New York Times. A comforting, Santa Fe style brunch dish.
Hatch chile apple cobbler from Homesick Texan. Apples, cinnamon and chiles?! Yes please!
Hatch Chile Pesto from AZCentral. Full of fresh herbs and a great spicy twist to regular pesto.
 

How to Roast Hatch Chiles in a Skillet

Ingredients
Hatch Chiles

Method
Select fairly straight chiles. The curved and twisted ones will be difficult to evenly char.
1. Heat a heavy bottom skillet on medium-high. Arrange the chiles in a single layer on the skillet. (You may have to do this in batches depending on how many chiles you have).
2. Let the chiles cook on medium-high heat until most their surface is charred and black.
3. At this point, flip the chiles over using tongs and let the other side char as well. If there are any large parts that are still green, use your tongs to gently press that part onto the surface of the skillet so that it gets some char.
4. When the chiles are well charred (its ok if there are little uncharred parts left), place them in a thick zip lock bag and close the bag. This will help steam the chiles and loosen the skin.
5. Keep putting the chiles in the zip lock bag as and when you are done roasting them.
6. Let the chiles steam in the closed Ziploc bag for about 15 minutes, or until the skins get lose and the chiles are cool enough to handle.
7. Now, using your fingers, peel away the charred skin and discard the skins. Place the peeled chiles on a plate or cookie sheet and let them cool completely.
8. Chop the cooled, roasted, peeled chiles. Place them in freezer bags and freeze for later.