Cubed Casserole

Cubed Casserole is Southwestern simplicity at its most brazen: four ingredients, one pan, one hour. Frozen corn gets pulsed in a food processor into chunky bits (not smooth, you want texture) then folded together with sharp cheddar, canned green chiles, and minced garlic before the whole thing bakes into a bubbly, molten side dish.

The magic is in the sharp aged cheddar. Use the oldest cheddar you can find. Mild cheddar makes this dish flat and greasy, while a proper extra-sharp or three-year aged cheddar brings enough punch to stand up to the green chiles without losing itself in the corn.

Partially chopping the corn is critical. Whole kernels slide around. Pureed corn turns the casserole into pudding. You want something in between, roughly half chopped, half whole.

Kitchen Tips

• Pulse the corn in short bursts, stopping to check every 2 seconds. Easy to overdo.
• Shred the cheddar yourself. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with cellulose that prevents proper melting.
• Bake at around 350°F (175°C) until the top is golden and the edges bubble.
• Let rest 10 minutes before serving. Straight-from-oven casseroles weep liquid. Rest and it firms up.

Variations

• Stir in a cup of cubed ham or crumbled bacon to turn this into a main dish.
• Add a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (drained) for more Tex-Mex flavor.
• Top with crushed tortilla chips in the last 10 minutes for a crunchy crust.