Preheat your oven to 375.

Combine the garlic powder, onion powder and pinch of salt in a small bowl. Rub the spices all over the chicken thighs.

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium to medium-high. Add the chicken to the pan (sort of splayed out so that a lot of the under surface touches the pan) and sear for six minutes. Flip and sear another six minutes. Flip the chicken once more and go another minute or two, until completely cooked through. (If you need to flip once more and go one more minute, totally fine. Thighs take a little longer than breasts, man!) Remove from the pan, let cool about five minutes and then shred with two forks.

In the meantime, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the shells until nearly al dente, just shy of it, about 8 minutes. (Package directions will guide you!) Drain the pasta in a colander and place the pot back on the warm burner.

Heat the Tbs. of butter in the pot. Once foaming, add the flour and whisk until it starts to become a nice golden brown, about two minutes. Add the milk in a slow stream, whisking as it thickens ever so slightly. Now, add one full block of grated havarti cheese, plus half of another grated block. Stir until the cheese melts into the sauce and becomes thick and stringy and soft and perfect. To the pot, add the shredded chicken and cooked pasta shells, giving it all a good stir to combine.

Now pour this into a casserole dish (deep, shallow, anything works here) and top with the remaining grated cheese. Top with a small scattering of sliced jalapeño peppers, and bake for 30 minutes, until the cheese is browning and starting to bubble. It SMELLS SO GOOD IN YOUR LIFE.

Serve immediately!

You’ll get about six servings. Enjoy!