food international: Pimento Cheese

My favorite (and only, but still favorite) sister Betsy has been visiting during Christmas, and the night she first arrived, she brought a bag full of wine-friendly treats for us, including a container of pimento cheese made with—get ready—smoked Gouda cheese. She got it at Whole Foods, I think, and she and I polished off about half of it that night as we got caught up on all the things sisters catch up on. It didn’t take us long the next day to finish up the rest.

Bets spent a few days in Tulsa after that, then returned to the ranch Saturday night with—praise the heavens—more of the dang pimento cheese. We ate it till it was gone.

Since New Year’s Eve is upon us, and there’s no telling who’ll be over here in the coming days, I whipped up a batch of pimento cheese yesterday. I added chipotle, which somewhat mimicked the smokiness of the Gouda, and after it had chilled for a couple of hours, I ate some of the pimento cheese last night along with approximately 1,000 Castelvetrano olives. (Warning: If you love olives and have never tried Castelvetrano olives, do yourself a favor: Don’t. There’ll be no turning back.)

Here’s how to make the pimento cheese, though keep in mind you can add whatever your heart tells you to add—anything from sliced green onions to chopped black or green olives to sundried tomatoes. And as far as what you can do with it? The possibilities are endless. Eat it as a munchie, spread on crackers or smeared in small, hollowed-out peppers, or make little tea sandwiches with it, or—get ready—spread it between two slices of bread and turn it into a grilled cheese!

Super versatile. Super addictive! (I speak from experience here.)

Here’s all you need!

Unless you want to add something else. Then you’ll need that, too.

NOTE: In these photos, I made double the amount in the printable recipe below! It made a ton, so I divided it in half for the printable.

Ha.

 

Add some softened cream cheese, some mayonnaise, and a little Dijon to the bowl of a mixer.

Note: One thing I generally don’t care for about storebought pimento cheese (the Whole Foods stuff is an exception) is the strong vinegar bite it often has. The nice thing about Dijon is that it gives the pimento cheese a tiny bit of that tangy/piquant quality without overloading it with vinegar.

 

Then crack open a can of chipotle peppers in adobo and grab a good tablespoon of the sauce…

 

And add it in. The chipotles are really smoky (in addition to spicy) so adding just the sauce will make sure you get that nice smoky flavor with a little spice that won’t be too overwhelming. Also, the adobo has a little vinegar in it, I believe, so you get that nice tang again.

I think I’ll say tang a few more times today.

Tang, tang, tang.

Oh, and a side note: I saved the rest of the can of chipotles in a plastic zipper bag in the fridge. I’ll use it for any number of things in the coming days: Mixing it with mayo, adding a little to mac-and-cheese, spiking salsa, etc.

Now, because of the saltiness of the cheese (and the tanginess of the adobo and Dijon), I don’t think the pimento cheese needs any salt at all. But a good amount of pepper is nice!

Now, before you add the cheese, mix up the previous few ingredients. I didn’t take a photo of this because it’s the end of the year and all the brain cells that remind me to take photos of each and every step of my recipes is totally blown. But just know that I mixed it all up before I added the cheese.

And about the cheese! This is sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, but guess what? You can add any ol’ cheese (or combination of cheeses) that you’d like! Here are a few suggestions:

Sharp Cheddar only
Sharp Cheddar and mozzarella
Sharp Cheddar and Swiss
Mozzarella and Monterey Jack
Mozzarella and Pepper Jack
Sharp Cheddar and Pepper Jack
Gouda
Smoked Gouda (like the one Betsy brought over)

I’ll stop there, but you get the drift. Anything that grates nicely and is somewhat soft but also holds together during mixing will work.

UPDATE: I didn’t mention this, but should have. Be sure to use blocks of cheese and grate it fresh yourself! You won’t get the same results with storebought grated cheese in a bag.

Now, this is pimento cheese, which means somewhere along the way (now is a good idea), you need to add pimentos. These are sliced pimentos, and I drained them first…

 

And threw them on in.

Then I mixed it together slowly and gently. Yum! Look at that.

Then all it needed was a little minced dill.

Perfect! Just mix in the dill, then use a rubber spatula to give it all a couple of final stirs, just to make sure it’s all mixed evenly.

Next—this is difficult, I understand, but totally worth it: You need to chill the pimento cheese for at least a couple of hours. You want it to be nice and cold and firm when you serve it, and the chilling time will give the flavors a chance to get to know each other and get married.

 

Do you know how good this is with hollowed out mini-peppers, good crackers, and olives?

Well, let me tell you: Dang good.

This is just the level of creaminess I like, but you can add a little more of both cheeses if you like it a tad less creamy…or a little less cheese if you like it really creamy and decadent.

 

The perfect nibble for sisters, friends, neighbors…anyone who drops by for a glass o’ vino or a Diet Dr Pepper in the coming days.

Here’s the handy dandy printable. Happy (almost) New Year, everyone!

Recipe

Pimento Cheese

Prep Time:

15 Minutes

Difficulty:

Easy

Servings:

12 Servings

Ingredients

• 4 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, Softened
• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard (more To Taste)
• 1 Tablespoon Adobo Sauce From Canned Chipotles (more To Taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 8 ounces, weight Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Grated
• 8 ounces, weight Monterey Jack Or Mozzarella Cheese, Grated
• 4 ounces, weight Sliced Pimentos, Drained
• 2 teaspoons Chopped Fresh Dill

Instructions

Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, Dijon, adobo, and black pepper in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix it until totally combined (if you have a few lumps from the cream cheese, no problem; you won't see them later!)

Add the cheddar and Monterey jack and mix gently until combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl and make sure all the ingredients are mixed together. Stir in the pimentos and dill. Taste and mix in more of whatever you think it needs. Add more cheese if you like the pimento cheese to be less creamy; add less if you like it to be more creamy.

Refrigerate pimento cheese for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serve with crackers, small hollowed-out peppers, carrot and celery sticks, and olives. (Or make small sandwiches or even a grilled cheese with it!)

***Note: For best results, make sure the cheddar and jack cheeses are nice and cold when you mix them in.