Pimiento Blue Cheese

“This spread was created by coauthor Sara Gibbs for the 2009 Southern Foodways Alliance Conference at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Conference participants received box lunches that were served in the Grove, a ten-acre wooded tailgating area in the center of campus. The box included spicy bourbon barbecue chicken, so a blue cheese spread for fresh vegetable dipping was the obvious accompaniment. Rather than the traditional blue cheese dressing, pimiento cheese starring Gorgonzola seemed fitting for Southern food lovers. We later found that it also makes a fabulous hamburger topping and a unique addition to a Cobb salad, which Sara also created for Wallace Station and Windy Corner Market—a happy accident!” —Ouita Michel in her new cookbook, Just a Few Miles South. Read our interview with Michel here.

Ingredients

Pimiento Blue Cheese (Yield: 2¾ cups)

8 oz. Kenny’s aged white cheddar cheese, shredded (or any white cheddar of your choice)
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. minced roasted garlic
2 tbsp. minced shallots
¼ tsp. white pepper
8 oz. Gorgonzola or other blue cheese crumbles
1 (2-oz.) jar diced pimientos, well drained

Preparation

Combine white cheddar, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, roasted garlic, shallots, and white pepper in a large bowl and stir with a rubber spatula until well combined. Fold in Gorgonzola and pimientos and mix just until combined. The spread will be chunky.