Chili Relleno Casserole

This is very good and much easier than stuffing the cheese into the chiles, but with pretty much the same flavor of the traditional method. If you don't care for hot food, you could use plain Monterey jack cheese instead of the pepper-jack. I use roasted Hatch Peppers (mild), when available (late Aug-Sept here in NoVa). Easily adaptable to a veggie main dish by leaving out the chicken. It is 9 servings but my family of 5 polished it off. Even the 1 who NEVER takes 2nds went back for a bit more!

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 9
• Yields: 1 casserole

Ingredients

• 14  ounces whole green chilies, canned, drained well
• 8  ounces monterey jack pepper cheese, shredded
• 1 1⁄2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
• 3  eggs
• 3⁄4 cup heavy cream
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 4  ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Grease an 8x8" baking pan.
2. Slice each chile along one long side and open flat.
3. Arrange half of the chiles in the bottom of the baking pan, skin side down, in a single layer.
4. Top with the pepper-jack cheese.
5. Top with shredded chicken.
6. Arrange the remaining chiles over the cheese, skin side up.
7. Beat the eggs, cream and salt well.
8. Pour evenly over the chiles.
9. Top with the cheddar cheese.
10. Bake at 350º for 35 minutes, until golden brown.
11. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.