Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

These Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches are a welcome savory treat that is perfect for parties or picnics. Like ‘em even spicier, add more jalapeño!

A couple of weeks ago, my husband made a dish that called for eight ounces of roasted red peppers aka pimentos. Younger daughter was dispatched to the store and came home with a 12-ounce jar. Now you or I might have just hummed the whole thing in but my husband is still quite the recipe rule follower (although he is getting better with experience) so he weighed out 8 ounces and put the rest in the refrigerator. 

Fortuitously, my pimento cheese recipe calls for exactly four ounces so it did not go to waste. To change things up a little, I added eight ounces of diced ham as well. Delicious!

Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

For this sandwich spread, I used a pack of ready diced ham but this would also be an excellent use for some of your leftover baked ham from Easter or Christmas. If you don’t have leftover pimentos, there are 4 oz jars available at most grocery stores. 

Ingredients 

1 (4 oz or 113g)) jar pimentos, drained and chopped

1-2 teaspoons finely grated onion, plus any juice

8 oz or 227g extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

1 fresh jalapeño, minced

8 oz or 227g diced ham

1/2 cup or 120ml mayonnaise

10 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed

Method

Grate the cheddar finely into a large bowl with plenty of room for mixing. Use a microplane to grate the onion right in top of the cheese so that any onion juice will also drip in. 

Add in the minced jalapeño and the pimentos. Use a fork to mix them thoroughly with the cheese and onion.

Add in the diced ham and mix again. It’s easier to mix thoroughly when the ingredients are dry so make sure to do this before adding the mayonnaise. 

Now, add in the mayonnaise and mix well.

Spread on bread for sandwiches. Be generous! Put it on thick. No one likes skimpy sandwich filling.

Or if you want to get fancy, cut the sandwiches into three. These will be very popular on a party table.

If you make them ahead, refrigerate the sandwiches covered with slightly damp paper towels and then cling film. This keeps the bread from getting dried out and stale. 

Enjoy!

Happy Easter to my readers who celebrate today! It’s Sunday FunDay and my friends and I are sharing creative ham sandwiches. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Keto 2-Minute Protein Bread & A Ham Sandwich from Sneha's Recipe
• Peameal Ham and Egg Breakfast Sandwich from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches from Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Ham, Cheese and Tomato Sandwich from Palatable Pastime
• Ham & Pickle Sandwich from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Croque Monsieur from Making Miracles

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Artichoke Tuna Bean Salad

This tasty Artichoke Tuna Bean Salad is easy to toss together but it’s full of flavor and makes a wonderful starter or light meal. 

One pantry staple we are never without is tuna in a can. Many an afternoon I hear the snick-snick of the can opener and either my husband or daughter is opening a can to eat with fork, straight from the can. It’s one of my favorite things to eat as well. 

That said, often of a morning you will find me boiling eggs in the Instant Pot, just to make my southern-style tuna salad. Where I come from, tuna salad has to have boiled eggs in it! I love to eat it on soft sandwich bread or piled high on Triskets. 

Back in my college days, what I called tuna surprise was one of my favorite meals. It required just three ingredients: noodles, cream cheese and a can of tuna. 

Bonus Tuna Surprise recipe: Just boil the noodles and drain. Add the cream cheese to the hot pot of pasta and stir till melted. Add tuna and stir again. This is seriously delicious and a relatively cheap, warm bowl of comfort food. If you want to get fancy, pour the whole pot in a casserole dish and bake till browned on top but that step is not really necessary.

Artichoke Tuna Bean Salad

This recipe is adapted from one in New York Times Cooking. According to the original author, it’s a mainstay in her house since it uses ingredients she usually has on hand for an easy light meal. I added a few ingredients but would still wholeheartedly agree.

Ingredients – Serves 4-6 as a starter

1 jar (6.5 oz or 185g) marinated quartered artichoke hearts, drained and 1/4 cup or 60ml marinade reserved

1 small or 1/2 medium red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced 40g

1 small red chili pepper, minced

2 teaspoons cider vinegar 

1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 (12-oz or 340g) can water-packed albacore tuna, drained

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans or borlotti beans, drained through a strainer and rinsed

Several sprigs Italian parsley leaves, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Baby spinach to serve, if desired

Method

Place the onion and chili pepper in a bowl and add the vinegar. Leave to marinate. 

Pour the vinegar into 1/4 cup or 60ml of the reserved artichoke marinade and then whisk in the Dijon mustard and yogurt. Add a pinch of fine sea salt and a few good grinds of black pepper.

In a large bowl, combine the artichoke hearts, beans, onion and chili pepper.

Add the tuna and pour on the dressing. Toss gently to coat. Garnish with parsley. 

Serve as is or put a small handful of baby spinach on each plate then top with the artichoke tuna bean salad. 

Enjoy!

It’s the second Friday of the month which means it’s time for my Fish Friday Foodies to share recipes. Today’s theme is Fish from a Can. I love this theme! Canned fish is tasty and convenient. I always have sardines, tuna, anchovies, smoked oysters, salmon, etc. in my pantry so I can’t wait to see all the other canned fish recipes. Check them out below. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Food Lust People Love: Artichoke Tuna Bean Salad 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Keto Tuna Melt Chaffle 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Smoked Clam Dip 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Spicy Salmon and Potato Croquettes 
• Palatable Pastime: Tuna Melt
• Culinary Cam: Growing an Appreciation for Tinned and Jarred Fish + an Anchovy-Artichoke Egg Salad Recipe

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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Sourdough Carrot Cake Waffles with Cream Cheese Syrup #BreadBakers

What could be more perfect for Easter breakfast or brunch than sourdough carrot cake waffles with a drizzle of cream cheese syrup? Not a single thing!

This recipe idea came to me last month when I was baking the sourdough sweet carrot waffles for Muffin Monday. I made a little note for myself, as a reminder to try carrot cake waffles someday. 

When our Bread Bakers host for April decided on Easter breads as our theme, some day came sooner rather than later! Waffles are, after all, a quick bread. 

Sourdough Carrot Cake Waffles with Cream Cheese Syrup

This recipe makes 7 Belgian-style waffles. If you aren’t eating them at once pop them in the toaster to reheat and refrigerate the cream cheese syrup. It’s still quite spreadable, even cold.  

Ingredients  

For the waffle batter:

1 1/2 cups or 190g all purpose flour

1/4 cup, tightly packed, or 50g brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup or 210g fed sourdough

1/2 cup or 120g mashed cooked carrots 

2/3 cup or 160ml milk 

1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil, plus extra for greasing the waffle iron

2 eggs 

For about 2/3 cup or 156ml cream cheese syrup:

4 oz or 113g cream cheese, softened

6 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons milk, plus more to taste

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Make the cream cheese syrup by beating together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Whisk in the milk and vanilla. (Add a bit more milk if you prefer a thinner syrup.) Set aside while you make the waffles.

Preheat your waffle maker.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. 

In another smaller bowl, whisk together the sourdough starter, mashed carrot, milk, canola, and eggs until fully combined. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and fold until just combined. Do not overmix. 

Grease your waffle iron, top and bottom, with a little canola oil.

Add the batter to the waffle maker. The size of your waffle iron will depend on how much batter you add but try not to overfill. That just makes a huge mess when it overflows. 

Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions until the first set of waffles are golden brown. Remove from the waffle iron and keep warm in a low oven. 

Continue cooking waffles until all the batter is used up. 

Serve with lashing of cream cheese syrup. 

Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for Bread Bakers! As I mentioned above, we are sharing Easter breads. Check out the links below for inspiration. Many thanks to our host, Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen.

• Choreg-Armenian Easter Bread by Sneha’s Recipe
• Chocolate Bunny Bread by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Greek Tsoureki by A Messy Kitchen
• Sourdough Choreg-Armenian Easter Bread by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Sourdough Carrot Cake Waffles with Cream Cheese Syrup by Food Lust People Love
• Orange Blueberry Hot Cross Buns by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Jidase by Magical Ingredients

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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