Hatching up new flavors
I like to play with my food. Or your food. Doesn’t really matter to me. Lately, we’re playing
around a lot. We’re not going too far from home but stepping out a little bit.
Went to Beaumont a while back and had not one but two people
come ask me about an Italian foods operation from Houston that is no longer in existence.
Specifically, they wanted jalapeno lasagne. We didn’t make it. BUT NOW WE DO! From
those two requests came our limited edition Roasted Garlic & Jalapeno Lasagne.
I’ve got to tell you, this one might seem odd but I think it’s got staying power,
especially once football season and cooler weather roll in and people are looking
for filling, tasty, healthy food.
Because I run around in circles a lot, I completely rely on my
amazing mom to be the wizard behind the curtain when it comes to ways to show off
our latest creations. This was no exception. We had the lasagne hanging to dry and
I told her about it. In less than 30 minutes, she came back with the recipe I’m
posting today. I trust my mom more than anyone else in the whole, entire world.
So, when she gives me a recipe to try, you
can bet two things as sure things: 1) I WILL try it, and 2) it WILL be good! This
is no exception. I made the test batch here in the shop and fed it to the pasta
posse. Granted, they like to eat, they love pasta and it was being served to them
FREE by their BOSS, but they still ate every bite. They didn’t even ASK if they
could have seconds. They polished it off (and Sean didn’t get any leftovers for
dinner—so much for my plans of not having to cook that night. Dagnabbit!)
The jalapeno lasagne and linguine have a bit of a kick right
now. Most of the time, I’ll put the heat at the middle of the scale, with our Roasted
Habanero being at the top of the list, followed by Zesty Cajun and Smoky & Spicy
Chipotle. But the intense heat and drought have brought us peppers that are noticeably
hotter than those we got earlier in the season.
The extra heat there and the influx of Hatch MILD Green Chiles
combined in my little brain to foster the love of our most recent creation. So,
as of today, we have Hatch Green Chile Linguine. This one is MILD, MILD, MILD. It also can carry
the Hatch name because we used only real Hatch chiles from the Hatch Valley
in New Mexico.
(We’re still calling it Gourmet TEXAS Pasta!)
I’m such a food nerd that I actually contacted
folks IN Hatch to make sure it was OK to use the name. A friendly exchange of emails
with Preston at Berridge Farms assured me we were on the right track, so Hatch is
right there on the label. We’ll only have this one while it lasts because Hatch
chiles are a limited-time thing. While they’re note around, we’ll keep playing with
regular chiles to improve on what we’ve started (always looking to be better).
For info on Hatch Chiles from Berridge, go to hatchnmgreenchile.com/
The lasagne recipe is flexible, so have fun. Go play with your
food!
Jalapeno Lasagne
Ingredients:
1 - 12 oz package Roasted Garlic & Jalapeno Lasagne,
cooked according to package directions
1 LB chorizo, browned
and drained WELL
1 14 oz can crushed
tomatoes
2 blocks cream
cheese, softened
2 eggs, beaten
2 pounds shredded "Mexican" 3-cheese blend
ALTERNATE: If you can find it, use Kraft Cooking Crème (sort
of a smooshy cream cheese) in Original flavor in place of the cream cheese/egg combination
Directions:
Combine chorizo and tomatoes. (Just stir them in the skillet
you cooked the chorizo in)
Stir eggs into cream cheese until smooth.
Place a thin layer of
meat mix in bottom of pan. Add a layer of noodles. Top with small dollops of
cream cheese. Then add a layer of
shredded cheese.
Repeat, ending with a
layer of sauce topped with grated cheese. Add on a little asiago for a twist,
if you'd like.
Cover with foil.
Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, until bubbly. Remove foil and cook another few
minutes ‘til lightly browned. Rest 15-20 minutes before serving.
Until next time: Enjoy!
