Pimento Cheese Grilled Cheese

Have I mentioned how happy I’ll be when this apartment search is over? Running back and forth to and from the city multiple times a week and having to mold my schedule around someone else’s is not particularly fun.  But if all goes according to plan, we should have our new digs settled by next week. Fingers crossed!

In the mean time  I find myself gravitating towards comfort foods like grilled cheese. I have  a serious weakness for that old school diner style grilled cheese- soft sandwich bread, American cheese, and lots of butter. But the other day I came across an old page of Saveur I had torn out months ago, and was faced with a tantalizing picture of not just a grilled cheese, but a pimento grilled cheese.

What is pimento cheese?  If you’re like me and have spent very little time in the South, you may not know. Pimento cheese is a southern style cheese spread, made from a mixture of cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and pimento peppers.  On its own, not too appetizing in my mind.  But slathered between two pieces of bread and grilled to melty perfection?  Heaven. I promise that even those of you who dislike mayo will like this.  You won’t even know the mayo is there!

I spiked my spread with a little Sriracha for some heat, but you could also add diced jalapenos or worcestershire to enhance the flavor.  Oh, and of course, bacon.  The recipe actually called for bacon instead of tomatoes, but given the number of BLTs I’ve eaten in the last week, I refrained.  You, on the other hand, you should most definitely add bacon.

New to Channeling Contessa?  Check out my Barefoot Contessa themed giveaway today!

Pimento Cheese Grilled Cheese slightly adapted from Saveur

This recipe makes enough for 3-4 sandwiches, but you can store the cheese up to 3 days and not make the sandwiches all at once. For the cheese spread:

2 cups grated cheddar cheese (recipe called for half white, half yellow, but I only had white so I just used that)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup diced pimento peppers

1/2 tsp onion granules

1 tsp Sriracha

s+p

For the sandwich:

6 slices good sandwich bread (I used whole wheat sour dough)

1 large tomato, thinly sliced

To make the cheese spread, mix together all ingredients well.  Set aside.

Set a large frying pan to medium low heat and let heat for 5 minutes.  While the pan is heating, assemble the sandwiches: slather a generous amount of the cheese spread on each slice of bread (both sides of the sandwich), top one side of the sandwich with tomatoes, and place other piece of bread on top.  Once the pan is heated drop a generous pat of butter into the pan and swirl it around. My motto for a perfect grilled cheese is low and slow- cooking the sandwich slowly at a lower heat gives the cheese enough time to melt while the bread is browning. Place each sandwich in the pan and let cook for roughly 5 minutes, until the bread is golden brown. Flip and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, watching closely to ensure the bread doesn’t burn.  Enjoy immediately!