Rosemary Vegan Cheeze

I've been meaning to publish this recipe for a long time, but the sweet ones are always too tempting and can't help but sharing them as soon as I finish them. Well, today is the day I can finally sit down and write this blog post for you...plus I crave (vegan) cheese a lot, but I don't have enough time this week (nothing new, duh) to make my own.

I'm planning on doing more elaborated/difficult vegan cheese recipes, like the fermented ones using probiotics and all that fancy stuff. But this one is a great way to dive into the cheesemaking world! You won't need a lot of ingredients, actually you just need five easy-to-find ingredients; you can add a pinch of ground black pepper (or a few granules) or try this recipe using a different herb (like thyme, oregano...you name it!).

With just a little bit of patience, letting your cheese set in the fridge overnight, you will enjoy it au natural with crackers, on your brunch toast with cherry tomatoes and rocket or combined with blueberry jam. Yummy! :-)

Receta en español en la web de El Granero Integral, haz click aquí.

Rosemary Vegan Cheese

(makes one small cheese)

Ingredients

150 g raw cashews.

2 1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast.

2 tablespoons coconut oil (deodorized if possible).

Pink Himalayan salt, to taste.

Rosemary.

Directions

Soak cashews in water with a pinch of salt overnight or at least 4 hours.

Drain well and place in the bowl of your food processor, add in the rest of ingredients: nutritional yeast, coconut oil and salt. I recommend using deodorized coconut oil for best results, you won't taste the coconut and therefore it won't mask the nutritional yeast flavor which is essential to give that cheese-like aroma and taste.

Process until a smooth mixture forms, you will need to stop a few times and scrape down the sides of the container in order to get a nice texture with zero lumps. Add in a generous pinch of salt, taste and adjust if needed.

Place a piece of plastic wrap on your working surface and transfer your cheese mixture there. Carefully roll this mixture to give it a wheel-like form, you should work quickly or with the help of a silicone spatula so the warmth of your hands doesn't make the coconut oil "sweat". Also, you can leave the mixture a few minutes in the fridge and give it the round form later.

Cover all the surface of your cheese with rosemary, cover with plastic wrap and let it harden in the refrigerator overnight.

Store this cheese refrigerated always, in an airtight container or covered.