Filipino-Style Cheese Pimiento Pandesal Melts
Merienda: The 3 PM Pause & After-School Snacks
At three-thirty on a Tuesday, the toaster oven ticks, a bag of supermarket pandesal sits on the counter, and you skip cold mayonnaise for a sweet, glossy orange melt folded with a jar of diced pimientos. The secret to this merienda is the stovetop. By melting mild cheddar down with butter, evaporated milk, and the punch of sweetened condensed milk, you create an emulsified block of dense, sliceable cheese. Keep it in the fridge, slap it cold onto a fresh pandesal roll, and toast it in a skillet on a busy afternoon. Eat it standing up while the cheese bubbles.
Before you start
Extract all moisture from the pimientos.
Empty the jar into a fine-mesh strainer, press down to remove the brine, and pat the peppers completely dry on paper towels. If you skip this, the excess water will ruin the texture of the spread.
Ingredients
- unsalted butter1/2 cup
- diced pimientos4 oz
- mild cheddar cheese12 oz
- cream cheese2 oz
- sweetened condensed milk1/4 cup
- evaporated milk1/4 cup
- salt1 pinch
- pandesal rolls6 med
- softened butter2 tbsp
Method
- 01
Sauté the pimientos in butter.
Place a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and melt the half-cup of unsalted butter. Add the completely dried pimientos and sauté gently for 2 minutes to infuse the butter with their sweet oils.
- 02
Melt the cheeses into the base.
Turn the heat down to low. Add the grated mild cheddar and the cubed cream cheese, stirring continuously with a spatula as they begin to melt and combine with the butter.
- 03
Emulsify with the milks.
Pour in the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk along with a pinch of salt. Keep stirring constantly in one direction for 3 to 5 minutes until the initially broken-looking mixture comes together into a thick, glossy, homogeneous sauce.
- 04
Cool and set the spread.
Remove from the heat immediately. Transfer the hot cheese mixture into a clean glass jar or container, let it sit until it reaches room temperature, and then refrigerate overnight so it solidifies into a firm block.
- 05
Assemble and toast the melts.
Scoop a generous, thick layer of the cold spread onto the bottom half of a sliced pandesal roll. Lightly butter the outside of the bread and toast in a skillet over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes per side until the bread is golden and the center is completely molten.
Notes
Stick to mild block cheddar.
Sharp or aged cheddars will break and turn into a greasy mess when melted this way. Pre-shredded bagged cheese contains anti-caking agents that ruin the smooth texture.
The magic of making it ahead.
Unlike mayonnaise-based spreads, this cooked dairy emulsion stays perfectly stable in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, ready to be scooped and toasted at a moment's notice.
Finding the right bread.
If you cannot find authentic pandesal at a local Asian grocer, standard supermarket Hawaiian sweet rolls mimic the soft crumb and subtle sweetness of the genuine article beautifully.
From Cook Filipino in America.