I love making raw cheese, it's so simple and the possibilities are endless. Whatever you feel like, you can just throw in the blender and whip up. The base for the cheese I do are nuts. I try to steer away from soy and tofu, different nuts will give it a different texture and flavour, much like the cheese varieties you find in the shops now. I wanted to make a plain tomato and avocado pizza for dinner so I thought I'd add a bit more oomph with a black pepper creme cheese. This you can eat on it's own with crackers, or sprinkled on top of salad. Delicious!
For the creme cheese I went with cashews. It gave it a soft crumbly texture and let the flavour of the pepper come through. Cashews themselves have a wonderful delicate creamy flavour, they have a lower fat content than most other nuts. About 3/4 of their fat is unsaturated fatty acids, which is a healthy fat, helping to lower bad cholesterol and promote heart and cardiovascular health. It contains high levels of copper, which in turn helps regulate thyroid functions, helps the body to utilize iron, maintaining bone and connective tissue health as well as helps produce melanin. Cooking wise, it's such a versatile nut, from making milks, to cheesecakes, cheeses and more!
This cheese turned out amazingly well. It's quite soft, so it's easy to crumble and spread, the intensity of the pepper shone through and the spring onion gave it a herb aftertaste. The nutritional yeast and lemon adds the cheesy taste, and it tastes better after being refrigerated. You can freeze this too and keep it for months, cashews freeze well and doesn't take long to thaw. It's a wonderful spread for breads and you can even use it as a dip!
This cheese turned out amazingly well. It's quite soft, so it's easy to crumble and spread, the intensity of the pepper shone through and the spring onion gave it a herb aftertaste. The nutritional yeast and lemon adds the cheesy taste, and it tastes better after being refrigerated. You can freeze this too and keep it for months, cashews freeze well and doesn't take long to thaw. It's a wonderful spread for breads and you can even use it as a dip!
Raw Black Pepper Cashew Creme Cheese
1 cup cashews (soaked 6hrs)
1/4 cup water
1 spring onion
1 TBS nutritional yeast
1 TBS lemon juice
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp black peppercorn
pinch of Celtic sea salt
1. Blend all ingredients together, keep scraping down the sides and blending until a smooth creamy consistency
2. Put into a ramekin or circle and refrigerate for a couple of hours
2. Put into a ramekin or circle and refrigerate for a couple of hours
