Most homemade cheese is a sauce or a spread. This one is neither. It sets firm enough to slice, grate over a bowl of pasta, or lay on a cracker, and it holds its shape in the refrigerator the whole time it’s in there.
The agar is what makes it set, and it’s the one ingredient worth buying carefully. Use agar powder, not flakes. If flakes are all you can find, you need three times as much.
Ingredients
The cheese
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- 1/3 cup water
- 5 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- Unprocessed salt (Himalayan, Celtic or Real Salt), 1 to 2 1/2 tsp — start at 1, taste, add from there
The setting mixture
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 Tbsp agar agar powder
The herbs — added at the end
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
Method
- Put everything in the first list into a blender. Blend until completely smooth — a minute longer than you think. Taste it now and adjust the salt. Leave it in the blender jug.
- Put the cold water and agar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and let it boil one full minute. It will thicken and turn glossy.
- Pour the hot agar mixture straight into the blender on top of the cheese mix. Add the oregano, basil and parsley. Blend until smooth, about ten seconds.
- Work quickly now — it begins setting within a minute. Pour into three or four lightly oiled ramekins.
- Smooth the tops and refrigerate until firm, about two hours.
- To turn one out, invert the ramekin onto a plate.
Notes
- Keeps covered in the refrigerator for a week. Freezes for up to three months.
- Taste before the agar goes in. After that you cannot adjust anything. It’s the one moment that matters.
- Ramekins are better than one large dish. You get a round to use and rounds to keep, and a small one turns out cleanly onto a cheeseboard.
- Use unprocessed salt — Himalayan, Celtic sea salt or Real Salt. Standard table salt and most standard sea salt have been refined, and that processing matters more than the trace minerals people usually talk about.
Makes: About 21 ounces — three or four small rounds
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- MyHDiet.com — plant-based nutrition, detox foundations, courses to help you learn the diet from your home
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- AMPMForHealth.com — health for the rhythm of real life
- HealthRetreat.com — Hallelujah Diet Health Retreat
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