Dad's South Western Macaroni & Cheese

This is one of my favourite things to eat and one of the first things I ask for when I come home. You get macaroni & cheese AND nachos, all at once and I like it better cold for lunch the next day. Yes, there is a lot of chopping but the recipe is pretty easy to make. Tonight I decided to make it myself, using my dad's recipe. I've decided to transcribe his version verbatim both because the directions are clear and in my opinion adorable. He is clearly writing for an audience, and now he has (a small) one, as opposed to the recipe index card box K-Z. Bold signifies not extra important but extra dad-lol. My notes in italics.

Hrs Lead Req'd: 1 1/4 hr cook's time: 3/4 hr Final Cooking: 40 min
Makes 8 Servings

• 300 g yellow onions, coarsely chopped
• 400 g sweet bell peppers, red, yellow, orange and/or green (don't use green, less pretty/tasty)
• 1 or 2 jalapeño peppers, minced (or 3 or 4)
• 0-2 other med./hot peppers, to taste, chopped
• 250 g ham, chopped
• 15 ml cooking oil (canola)

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• 200 g sharp cheddar cheese, diced 10-12 mm/ 3/8 - 1/2"
• 250 ml plain yogurt (1 cup)
• 60 ml instant blend flour (1/4 cup) 30 g
• 250 ml milk (1 cup)
• 1-4 dashes tabasco or other hot sauce, to taste

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• 300 g macaroni or other similar pasta (cavatappi)<--yes to the spiral macaroni
• 3 tsp salt
• 4 l. water

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• nacho chips
• mozzarella cheese, grated

This is our usual quantity of a favourite family comfort food. - reduce 50% for less enthusiastic appetites (don't, the leftovers are even better).
Use a large oven-proof skillet ( 12" (30 cm) cast iron is just sufficient).
Start a large pot of water for the pasta.
Clean (peel, stem, core, de-seed) and chop (coarse or fine to your preference - I go 'coarse') the peppers, and onions, and ham. Cut up the cheddar. Whisk the flour into the yogurt and mix in the milk.
Heat skillet over medium-high heat, add oil, and when its hot add the onions and all the peppers and ham, and cook, over medium-high heat, stirring from time to time until the vegetables are soft and some are barely beginning to brown. Pour in the yogurt-milk-flour mix, and stir until thickened. Taste, adding hot sauce (chipotle tobasco is our current choice (he used to pronounce chipotle hip-o-tl until his Spanish major daughter caught him)), salt and fresh-ground black pepper to your taste.
Turn on the broiler.
Sprinkle cheddar on top and mix it in. Remove from heat when the cheese is mostly melted.
Meanwhile, when the water boils, add the salt and macaroni, and cook until al dente (6 minutes or so). Drain the macaroni and keep hot.
Fold the macaroni gently and thouroughly into the sauce in the skillet. Spread a layer of nacho chips on top, and grate on a layer of mozzarella cheese.
Pop under the broiler (if you are using cast iron you may need your dad or someone else strong to do this step, no joke) for a minute or two, until the cheese melts and the chips just start to brown. Watch carefully, from browned to burnt is a moment's inattention.
Remove, and serve...
* The quantities of onions, peppers, ham, jalepenos and hot peppers and tobasco can be varied to suite taste or availability. We usually have a mix of red, yellow and orange sweet peppers, and often add a hot banana pepper. We normally use two-year old white cheddar and Black Forest style ham and blue corn organic nacho chips...
* This makes very good left-overs, but the nachos and cheese should be eaten on first serving: the nachos go limp in the fridge.