Pimento Cheese Deviled Eggs
You can’t get much more Southern than deviled eggs. Well, maybe kudzu is more Southern than deviled eggs, but you can’t eat kudzu. The secret to these deviled eggs is butter, a culinary school tip that takes this Southern staple from delicious
to sublime.
Ingredients
- 12 large eggs
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup extra-sharp cheddar grated (about 2 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons diced pimento drained and finely chopped, plus more for garnish
- Pinch of cayenne pepper or to taste
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- ►To hard-cook the eggs, place the eggs in a saucepan and add water to cover them by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat (you will see bubbles around the sides of the pot). Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 12 minutes. Drain eggs and rinse them under cold running water. Set aside to cool completely.
- ►Once eggs have cooked and cooled, remove shells by tapping each egg gently on the counter or sink all over to crackle it. Roll an egg between your hands to loosen the shell. Peel, starting at the large end, while holding the egg under running cold water; this facilitates peeling and also removes any stray shell fragments.
- ►Halve peeled eggs lengthwise. Carefully remove yolks. Set whites aside. Place yolks in a bowl. Using a folk or rubber spatula, blend yolks, mayonnaise, cheese, butter, mustard, pimentos, and cayenne, and mix until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
- ►Place mixture in a piping bag fitted with a large round tip, or use a medium sealable plastic bag with one of the corner tips snipped off. Refrigerate whites and filling until ready to serve.
- ►To serve, pipe yolk mixture into whites. Garnish with additional pieces of pimento and serve immediately.
Virginia Willis
Willis is an American chef, baker, writer, and content creator, whose work focuses on American, Southern, and French cuisine.
