Hard Cashew Cheese
The Vegan Table
Ingredients
- 1-1/4 C raw cashews
- 1/2 C nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 to 2 tsp salt, to taste
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 3-1/2 C nondairy milk
- 1 C agar flakes
- 1/2 C canola oil
- 1/4 C light (yellow or white) miso
- 2 Tbs lemon juice
Directions
Place cashews in a large-sized bowl of the food processor and finely grind–just don’t let the cashews turn to a paste. Add nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, and white pepper. Pulse three more times to blend in spices.
In a heavy saucepan, combine milk, agar flakes and oil. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease heat to low-medium, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.
With the food processor running, gradually add milk mixture to cashew mixture. Blend for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Next blend in miso and lemon juice. It won’t take long for the sauce to start thickening up. Transfer to a mold. I used a glass bowl, but plastic would be fine, too. In fact, it may work better.
Let it harden in the refrigerator for a few hours—after 3 hours, it still wasn’t quite ready, so I left it over night.
It did not stick to the sides of the mold at all, but there was a tiny bit of liquid on the bottom acting as a suction and the cheese wasn’t budging. I inserted a straw in the middle of the cheese, took it out, creating a hole and then turned it upside down over a cutting board. It came right out. With a plastic mold, you could probably squeeze the sides enough to loosen it enough. Enjoy!
Information
- Category
- Snacks, Cheese