Ingredients:
-1 box of elbow macaroni
-3 jalapeños (de-seeded if preferred for less spice)
-1 bunch cilantro ( equals about 3/4 cups)
-9 pieces of crush cashews
-1/4 cup good quality olive oil
-2 8oz blocks of mild or medium cheddar cheese (grated)
-1/3 cup of pepper jack cheese (grated)
-1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (grated)
-1 1/2 cups of milk
-1 cup of heavy cream
-2 tbsp of salted butter
-2 tbsp of all purpose flour
-2 teaspoons of garlic powder
-1/4 cup of good quality bread crumbs
-1/2 lime
-Salt to taste
-Pepper to taste

Tools:
-Baking Dish
-Saucepan
-Blender

ProTips:
1. Unsure on how spicy you want the dish? I used two seedless jalapeños and 1 seeded jalapeño and found that to be a perfect balance!
2. Get your RONI on! Need some help choosing your Mac for this delicious Mac and cheese? I ended up using the entire bag of Trader Joes Macaroni (included in the photo below). I found it to be so much bigger and wider than your regular elbow macaroni – allowing for more sauce! Yum!
3. If you know me, you know I love to add an extra (optional) kick. This Green Goddess Mac and Cheese also tastes AMAZING with a few drops of the Trader Joes Green Dragon Hot Sauce on top!
4. If you find your milk or cream curdling (sometimes it happens to the best of us)- stick the mixture into the blender (before you add the cheese) and smooooooth out those chunks! Then bring it back to a boil and add your cheese. No one likes a grainy Mac and Cheese!!
5. For some extra added crunch swap out your regular old breadcrumbs for some Panko style breadcrumbs!

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. In a medium bowl grate and mix all the cheese
3. Set it aside for later
4. Cook and drain the macaroni to ALMOST al dente- following the instructions on the box (it’s OK it will continue to cook in the oven and no one wants overcooked pasta!)
5. In a blender, blend the jalapeños, cilantro oil, a pinch of salt/pepper, cashews, and the lime juice
6. Set it aside for later
7. In a saucepan, melt butter on medium low heat
8. Add in the flour to form a roux
9. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon in a figure-eight motion for even cooking
10. In 3 to 5 minutes, you’ll have a light roux that should puff slightly
11. Reduce the heat to low
12. Warm up the milk in a microwave until barely warm so it doesn’t curdle
13. Slowly stir in the milk to the roux
14. Keep stirring this until it is all combined and dissolved
15. Add the cream to this mixture (the same way as the milk- warm it up first!)
16. Once the liquids are hot in the saucepan, add the grated cheese keeping one cup aside for later
17. Keep stirring the mixture until it is THICK and CHEESY
18. Add the garlic powder
19. Stir in the pesto
20. Add salt and pepper to taste (I found that I didn’t need anymore, but try the sauce and add accordingly!)

Voila! You’ve made your Green Goddess Sauce!

Put it all together:
1. Mix the cooked macaroni with the Green Goddess sauce
2. Layer half of the mixed macaroni and cheese into a lightly greased baking dish
3. Top with 1/2 cup of the remaining cheese
4. Layer the remainder of the mixed macaroni on top
5. Top off with the remaining cheese and sprinkle on the bread crumbs
6. Bake for 20 minutes
7. Broil for 5 minutes until the top is golden brown and crispy!