Mexican Mac

Remove the chiles from the cans, reserving the sauce. Finely chop and mix with the sauce. You will need 1 1/2 cups.

Pour the Mac Sauce into a large stockpot, place over medium heat, and stir in the cheese. When just melted, stir in the chorizo, the chipotles in sauce, and then the macaroni. Continue to stir until the macaroni is completely coated in the sauce.

(Alternately, the macaroni can be divided, as needed, between hotel pans and coated with the sauce.)

The Mexican Mac can be served at this point or made a day or two ahead and reheated.

To serve, spoon into bowls, sprinkle generously with cilantro, and serve with a lime wedge.

Mac Sauce:

Heat the milk in a large saucepan/small stockpot over medium heat to just below a simmer, when bubbles are just beginning to come to the surface. Remove from the heat.

Melt the butter in a medium stockpot over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Continue to whisk until the mixture is light brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and slowly, whisk in the milk, about 1 cup at a time. At first the mixture will become very thick, but will thin again as more milk is added.

Return to the heat and whisk continuously until the sauce is silky and thickened. Dip a wooden spoon into the sauce. It should coat the spoon and when a finger is run through the mixture, the line will remain.

The sauce is ready to be used.

Recipe created by Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade

Reprinted with permission from The Mac + Cheese Cookbook: 50 Simple Recipes from Homeroom, America's Favorite Mac and Cheese Restaurant, by Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade, copyright 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.