Pimento Cheese Stuffed Eggs

I love deviled eggs, so when I saw the pimento cheese stuffed deviled eggs in Pimento Cheese The Cookbook by Perre Coleman Magness, I knew that was one recipe I had to try.

I also made pimento cheese. There are a whole bunch of different types of pimento cheese. Who knew?

One thing I really like about this book is that the recipes that use pimento cheese don't have you start with one of the pimento cheese recipes. They're all self-contained, rather that recipes that require other recipes. And that means you won't have to make a tub of pimento cheese in order to use a portion of it in a recipe.

Not that I couldn't find a use for pimento cheese.

I've made an awful lot of deviled eggs in my life, and I tend to stick to variations of my "usual" recipe, unless I'm making something from a book. I don't think I've ever used cheese in the filling. I have used pimento as a garnish, but never in the filling. I think I'll be using both again soon.

Pimento Cheese Stuffed Eggs
Adapted from Pimento Cheese The Cookbook by Perre Coleman Magness

Eggs, after refrigeration.

1 dozen large eggs, hard boiled, peeled, chilled
2 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika, plus more for garnish
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 2-ounce jar diced pimentos, rinsed, drained, and patted dry

Cut the eggs in half lengthwise and remove the yolks. Place the yolks in a medium bowl and set the whites aside.

Mash the egg yolks with a fork, then add the cheese (you can save a little for garnish, if you like), mayonnaise, paprika, and garlic powder. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Eggs, before refrigeration. The yolks are lighter in color.

Mix and mash the yolk mixture until it's well blended and smooth. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if desired.

Mix in the pimento, stirring until the pimentos are evenly distributed in the yolks.

Fill the whites with the yolk mixture. The book suggests that you refrigerate the eggs for at least an hour. I don't know if it's absolutely necessary. The yolk mixture firmed up a little bit during refrigeration, but I thought it was fine right after it was made. The one big difference I noticed was that the yolk mixture got a little darker after the eggs were refrigerated.

Garnish with paprika and reserved cheese, if desired.

I received this book from the publisher at no cost to me.

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