The Cheese That Gives Your Mac And Cheese A Southern Flair

The Southern vibe you've been hankerin' to give your mac and cheese comes from an ingredient typically used on crackers: pimento cheese. Sometimes called Southern pâté, pimento cheese dip is a simple blend of bright red pimento peppers and cheese. These days, that cheese is often cheddar, though when the dish first came into being, cream cheese was the dairy of choice. As for the pimentos, these sweet, slightly heart-shaped cherry-sized peppers have a flavor that's close to that of red bell peppers. As such, mac and cheese made from pimento cheese tastes of both sweet peppers and tangy cheese.

One of the simplest ways to make macaroni with pimento cheese is to bake it. To get started, blend the pimento cheese with cooked macaroni in a baking dish, then bake at 350 degrees for half an hour. To balance out the sweet flavor of the peppers and to add a bit of umami zest to your pimento mac and cheese, top it with French's crispy fried onions or cracker crumbs. It's a serious upgrade to your normal mac and cheese recipe.

If you're so inclined, you can make your own version of pimento cheese to flavor your mac and cheese. It's also possible to buy pimento cheese online or at your local grocery store if a dearth of time or the lack of a good recipe prevents you from making it from scratch.

When pimento cheese originated in New York after the turn of the 20th century, it consisted of canned pimento peppers (sometimes from Spain) and cream cheese. It became a recipe that people associated with the South when farmers in Macon, Georgia started to cultivate the peppers. As for the cheese spread itself, the recipe has evolved over time to include ingredients like grated cheddar cheese, mayo, cayenne pepper, pepper flakes, and hot sauce — sometimes all in the same dish. Worcestershire sauce, onion, fresh ground black pepper, and garlic are also ingredients that home gourmands have put into their recipes over the years.

Some recipes don't include mayo, an ingredient that was later added to the dish to replace cream cheese. Mayo does help to make the dish creamy, a quality the original recipes got from softened — but not melted — cream cheese. The mayo also functions as a binder that holds all of the ingredients together. You can use either or both, depending on your preference. 

Finally, keep in mind that it's really you approach that makes this a bonafide Southern dish. After all, 20th-century Southern cooks took a store-bought spread and began crafting their own versions to improve upon the manufactured original. It's your experimentation and creativity that'll truly make your own version of pimento mac and cheese.