Chili Mac

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_mac

I have some leftover chili and was thinking of serving chili mac for dinner. It isn't really part of my family's vernacular -- more like something they made occasionally in the school cafeteria. In my head, I just boil some pasta al dente, and then drain it, add it to the pot with the chili like I would with a marinara, cook it briefly, and serve it to plates topped with some cheese maybe. But a lot of the pictures of it online show it layered with a layer of plain pasta under a layer of chili. And that Wikipedia article talks about kind of mixing the chili with prepared mac-n-cheese.

Do you eat this? What's your local style? Any little tricks or techniques to suggest?

I suspect there are at least as many recipes for Chili Mac as there are for Chili.  …stands to reason.   I doubt if I have ever made it the same way twice.

Wow, I've never heard of this before.  I wants some.

Knowing my house, some people adore pasta and some love the sauce, so having one on top of the other makes sense so each can choose.

However, if your household all love both, mixing together makes more sense to me.  Flavour can get into the pasta better.

I make Chili Mac with leftover chili and left over mac and cheese ...

A little high on the pasta to chili ratio, but good.

I like to use spaghetti noodles and make chili spaghetti. It’s good and drives my New Yorker wife nuts lmao. I think it’s a combination you can’t really mess up.

I was so inspired by this thought that I added "elbow" pasta to the chili I made for dinner.  Usually I make rice as a go with, but the pasta was definitely better!  Grated cheese on top, and a side salad of lettuce tomato and avocado.  Proportion 250g minced beef to 1/2 cup of the dried  pasta.
Now I'm thinking chili lasagne might be the next great thing 🤔😏
Edit to add:  straight Mac'n Cheese is made "adult" by the addition of chili to taste ( I add just a teaspoonful of mild chili paste)