Loaded Nachos with a Homemade Cheese Sauce

I love all foods that belong on a pub menu. Nachos. Burgers. Fries. Hot dogs. Pot pies.
The BF is a kindred spirit, so we often have dinners that consist of hot dogs and nachos, or dips and bacon-wrapped jalepenos, or wings and tacos... We obviously go high-class 24/7!

I am not one to maintain a strict diet (unless it consists of pastries and coffee), and these nachos are one of my favorite Ultimate Splurge foods. Take a deep breath, read the ingredients, and go for it! I promise you, these nachos are worth the zillion calories they contain.

Ingredients:

• Tortilla chips (blue corn are the best!)
• 1 jalepeno
• 5 slices of bacon
• 1 can olives
• 4 stalks of asparagus
• 5-6 medium mushrooms
• 1/2 small onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cheese, separated (sharp cheddar is my favorite)
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil spread
• Salt/Pepper/Miscellaneous Spices (cumin, oregano, parsley, cayenne, etc.)
• Sriracha (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and lay the strips of bacon in it immediately. 
2. While the bacon cooks, start chopping up the jalepenos, olives, asparagus, mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Cook the bacon until crisp and remove from the pan. Pour out the grease but leave just a teeny tiny bit (like a teaspoon coating the pan) in it.Once the bacon has cooled enough to handle, chop into pieces.
3. Add the chopped ingredients to the pan and saute over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until the asparagus is slightly crunchy and the onions are translucent. Take pan off heat when everything is cooked but leave all of the toppings in it, and mix in the bacon pieces.
4. In a separate pan, heat it to medium-high heat. Add the butter until it is bubbling, then add the flour and whisk it together. Once the flour is golden, add the milk and 2 cups of cheese and whisk constantly for 5 minutes or until it has thickened. Season the cheese sauce with salt. pepper, and any other spices you desire. At this point I usually add a few drops of sriracha for extra heat, but you can choose to leave it out. 
5. Prepare a large baking sheet with one layer of chips, then use a spoon to drip 1/3 of the cheese sauce over the chips. Scatter 1/3 of the toppings, then repeat the layering 2 times to have 3 layered nachos. It is important to have the cheese sauce down first so the toppings stick to the bottom layer rather than clump to the layers above! 
6. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the nachos and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling. 

Enjoy! 


PS If you're feeling extra naughty, feel free to serve these with a drizzle of sriracha on top, or with a side of salsa. I'll be honest - salsa is overkill because these nachos are packed with juicy flavor!