Poblano Green Spaghetti with Elote & a Chicharrón Crunch: Espagueti Verde, With an Extra

It's National Pasta Week, and in a Mexican kitchen that means one thing: espagueti verde. Poblanos charred over the flame until the skins blister, blended with crema, onion and garlic into a sauce the color of a nopal, tossed with spaghetti and showered with Cotija. It's the pasta that shows up at every bautizo, every Sunday comida, every "qué hago de cenar" Tuesday — because it takes 20 minutes and nobody has ever left any on the plate.

Ours comes with an extra: sweet granos de elote folded into the sauce for little pops of sweetness against the poblano, and a handful of crushed chicharrón over the top at the table — salty, crunchy, and gone soft never. Two shortcuts if the weeknight is winning: a carton of crema de poblano instead of roasting chiles, and canned elote instead of shaving a cob. Nobody will know. 🌽

Ingredients

• 1 lb spaghetti — Yemina Spaghetti No. 7 is the Mexican-kitchen standard
• 3 chiles poblanos, roasted, peeled and seeded — or the shortcut: 1 carton crema de chile poblano like Knorr Crema de Chile Poblano
• 1 cup granos de elote, drained — Herdez Granos de Elote
• ½ cup Mexican crema (or table cream)
• ¼ white onion and 1 garlic clove
• ½ cup chicken broth or milk
• 1 Tbsp butter + 1 tsp oil, salt and pepper
• To finish: crumbled queso Cotija or fresco, fresh cilantro, lime
• The extra: ½ cup chicharrón, crushed by hand

How to Make It

Step 1 — Cook the pasta

Boil the espagueti in plenty of salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water.

Step 2 — Roast the poblanos

Char the poblanos directly over the flame or on a hot comal until blackened all over. Sweat them 10 minutes in a bag, then peel, seed and tear into pieces. Shortcut: skip this and use the crema de poblano in step 3.

Step 3 — Blend the green sauce

Blend the poblanos with the crema, cebolla, ajo and broth until completely smooth and velvety green. Taste for salt.

Step 4 — Simmer the sauce

Melt the butter with the oil in a wide skillet, pour in the green sauce and let it bubble 5 minutes over medium heat until it thickens slightly. Stir in the elote and season.

Step 5 — Toss the spaghetti

Add the spaghetti straight into the sauce and toss until every strand is coated, loosening with a splash of pasta water if it tightens up.

Step 6 — Finish and serve

Plate it hot, pile on crumbled Cotija and cilantro, and crush the chicharrón over the top at the table so it stays crunchy.

It's Pasta Week, con sabor a México. The spaghetti, the elote and the crema de poblano are in the shop — and the whole pasta-night pantry (salsas, cremas, chipotles, aceitunas, atún, olive oils) lives in our new Pasta Week collection. 🌮

Taste the Fiesta!