I’m a cheese and cracker girl.  It’s my default snack, my go to lunch staple, must have appetizer…I like cheese and crackers.

So when I moved to the South and started hearing about this thing called pimento cheese…it was only a matter of time.

Since I first learned to make it, I’ve played with it.  I’ve tweaked it to my liking, and even converted some non-pimento cheese loving southerners, to like it.  I love storing it in small mason jars during the summer to easily throw in a cooler bag with (wait for it…) crackers for a poolside snack or picnic staple.

I’m all about easy, so I make mine in the food processor.  I use the shredder attachment to shred the cheese, the add the blade back in with the cheese still in there.

After buying several rounds of diced pimentos in the grocery store, I realized they are basically the same thing I already had in my pantry. Roasted red peppers.  I buy mine in bulk at Costco, because I use a lot of them, and they are really cheap there.

To the shredded small block of cheese I add a whole pepper and pulse until it’s just diced and mixed in.  I then add a heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise (shudder), some salt, and a couple dashes of Louisiana hot sauce.  Then my secret ingredient…the liquid from the roasted red pepper jar.  It adds tons of flavor, and needed moisture from the low amount of mayo I tolerate it mine.  Pulse until just combined.

This takes me about 5 minutes.  Five minutes for a delicious snack sounds pretty reasonable to me!  I can’t do the whole white bread thing…too much mush and no crunch, so I conveniently default to (I’m sure you guessed…) crackers, if I’m not gussying it up by throwing it on a burger, or grilled chicken sandwich (with bacon, of course!), or making a grilled pimento cheese and bacon sandwich, or dreaming of a fried green tomato and pimento cheese sandwich…

Pimento Cheese

• 1 8 oz. block of sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise
• 1 roasted red pepper and several tablespoons of liquid from jar
• Louisiana hot sauce

Shred block of cheese in food processor.  Add pepper and pulse until pepper is just diced and mixed in.  Add mayo, a few dashes of hot sauce, salt, and a tablespoon of roasted red pepper liquid, pulse until just combined.  Taste.  Add more salt, hot sauce, and liquid as needed.