Smoked Tomato and Pimento Cheese Grits by Chef Tim Grandinetti

Prep time:

25 minutes

Cook time:

20 minutes

Difficulty level:

Simple

Grits is such a staple in so many homes, especially in the South! According the definition found on wikipedia, grits are a food made from corn that is ground into a coarse meal and then boiled. Hominy grits are a type of grits made from hominy with the germ removed, which is corn that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization. So on and so forth…

You may have heard of some famous dishes such and shrimp and grits, grits as a side item for breakfast, grits cakes, etc, well, this is a recipe you’ll want to save for the grandchildren. Smoky tomatoes marry with pimento cheese in this dish to bring a powerful punch of flavor to your taste buds. We like to call these Grand(inetti) Grits.

Ingredients

3-4 large tomatoes
3 cups stone ground grits
1 pint heavy cream
64 oz (1/2 gallon) chicken stock
3 cups pimento cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Prepare your grill for smoking
Place tomatoes (whole) on the indirect side of your grill and smoke until tomatoes have softened. Tip: Stab the tomato on the top with a fork prior to placing on the grill so it doesn’t explode and spray you with hot juice. Once tomatoes have smoked, you will pull them off the grill and puree them in a food processor or blender and set aside.
Raise your firebox to sear and remove heat deflector if you are using one.
In a large cast iron dutch oven, bring chicken stock to boil, reduce to strong simmer and slowly stir in stone ground grits
Stir grits continuously until combined, then add heavy cream and stir until combined
Once grits have absorbed chicken stock and all fluids, slowly fold in pimento cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Serve as a bed under a protein or just as a side dish.