Pimento peppers are round, red, and shaped like a heart, which is why they are also known as cherry peppers. The Spruce Eats describes them as "sweet and mild, and unlikely to cause trouble if you cannot tolerate spicy peppers." Even if you've never had pimento cheese, you've likely tasted pimentos — as they are often used to make the spice paprika.
Like pimentos, red peppers are sweet, and full of natural sugars. Unlike pimentos, however, their flavors come to the fore when they are roasted, thanks to the Maillard reaction, which not only changes the color of an ingredient as it is being cooked, but also alters its flavor qualities, making it sweeter and smokier (via The Tasty Tip).
Southern Living is behind the roasted red pepper substitution; in fact, it even calls for using marinated roasted red peppers, which provide an extra zing with the inclusion of garlic, mustard seed, or red wine vinegar to the pickling brine.
So if you've made the switch and feel that referring to the spread as "pimento cheese" might be a bit dishonest, go ahead and call your spread whatever you want. After all, as the great William Shakespeare put it: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
This Ingredient Will Take Your Pimento Cheese To The Next Level - Tasting Table
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