Pimiento Cheese Recipe: Southern Comforts
I grew up in North Cackalack, and that means I grew up eating pimiento cheese. I ate it on celery, on Ritz crackers, on triscuits, and right off the spoon. It was so ubiquitous in our refrigerator that it didn’t occur to me that it was a regional staple until I moved to Chicago and found out I couldn’t have it anymore.
But the lack of grocery store offerings of pimiento cheese was a mixed blessing, because it led me to find and perfect my own recipe, which is preferable when you’re making something so simple. Below is a recipe for spicy pimiento cheese, but you can omit the cayenne if you don’t like the spicy. You can also add all kinds of things—- pickles, relishes, garlic, etc.
In my pimiento cheese experience, making a grilled cheese sandwich with it is the best use- and add bacon and lettuce and tomato after grilling to make it the best sandwich you’ve ever had.
Pimiento Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
1 lb sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded (you can use yellow or white, but white won’t produce the tell-tale orange color of the spread)
1/2 cup mayonnaise, plus a bit more to achieve the consistency you desire (make your own if you are fancy)
1 four ounce jar of chopped pimientos (this can be hard to locate in the grocery store if you are outside of the South, but they are generally either in the pickles/relishes section or the jarred mushroom section—- in a pinch you can use jarred red peppers and chop them up fine)
Salt and Pepper to taste
A few pinches of cayenne pepper, to taste
Directions
Mix it all up and taste it often to get the proportions right. Different cheeses and mayos have different salt contents, to the amount of salt and spices you add will vary.
For a grilled sandwich, use pimiento cheese instead of your regular cheese and grill away just as you would normally.
