Next Level Cheese Paste (spread).

Growing up Caribbean, meant attending birthday parties for a friends and encountering this sandwich… guaranteed! Or maybe it’s just mommy packing your school lunch, visiting grandma and having these sandwiches while the “big Meal” simmered on the stove.. or maybe it was a church trip and yea, this was the snack of choice. As I wrote when I first shared Cheese Paste (recipe), this is as classic as it gets when it comes to the culinary culture of the Caribbean.

You’ll Need…

2 cups old cheddar (grated)
2 cups fine aged cheddar (grated)
1 cup cream cheese (room temp / soft)
2 tablespoon butter (soft)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 pimento peppers
1 teaspoon mustard powder
3/4 cup evaporated milk (adjust)
1 shallot (rough chopped or grated)
1 large clove garlic (smashed or grated)
1 teaspoon pepper sauce (any hot sauce will work)

• As the title state, this is Next Level stuff and will not look like your mommy’s.. I’m not trying to replicate hers!

This is one of those recipes where there is no cooking involved, but to help things go faster (easier work for the food processor or blender you use), I’d recommend prepping the ingredients in advance.

Basically this means, grating the cheese, making sure the butter and cream cheese is at room temperature or softer (depends where in the world you are), grate the garlic and give the shallot and pimento peppers (aka seasoning peppers) a rough chop.

I used a food processor, so all in with the full list of ingredients – I like it a tiny bit spicy so I included peppersauce (hot sauce), but that’s up to you and your children.

The personalization! Use any cheese you enjoy, but may I recommend using an aged cheddar as the base. Taste and adjust the salt (the cheeses I used had enough salt to my liking) and the overall consistency is in your control as well. For me I needed it to be a smooth, thick paste.

Slap this on on your fav bread and BAM! You’ve got cheese paste sandwiches. Or grab some sliced vegetables or plain old crackers and dip or scoop to your heart’s delight. Be sure to store the remainder in the fridge and it will last a solid week in there.

Another version of the classic Caribbean Cheese Paste. Enjoy! Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/