Cashew Cheddar Cheese

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This is a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Real Food Daily Cookbook. It makes a lot of cheese. I freeze it and only use a little at a time.cashew cheese

Makes 4 cups
“This cheese is great for shredding or melting. Cashews work better than other nuts because they blend into such a creamy, rich consistency. If you are not satisfied with the cheese’s final consistency or texture, blame the agar flakes; all store-bought brands of agar flakes are cut differently which unfortunately affects the amount if measured by volume. If you rather not learn the hard way like as I did, go by the provided weight rather than cup weight.”
1 1/4 cups raw cashews
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
3 1/2 cups unsweetened soymilk
1 cup agar flakes (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup yellow miso
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
Using the pulse button, finely grind the cashews in a food processor; don’t allow the cashews to turn into a paste. Add the nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, and white pepper. Pulse three more times to blend in the spices; set aside. Combine in the soymilk, agar, and oil in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-high, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the agar is dissolved. With the food processor running, gradually pour the soymilk mixture through the feed tube and into the cashew mixture. Blend for 2 minutes or until very smooth and creamy, and then blend in the miso and lemon juice. The cheese will keep will keep 4 days covered and refrigerated.

FOR GRATED OR SLICED CHEESE:
Transfer the cheese to a container, cover and refrigerate about 4 hours until very firm. Once its firm, grate or slice as desired.

FOR MELTED CHEESE:
Use the cheese immediately as melted cheese. Alternatively, make the cheese in advance, cover and refrigerate. When you’re ready to use the cheese, melt it in a saucepan over medium-high heat until smooth and creamy, stirring frequently. If needed, add more soymilk for a thinner consistency.

FOR JALAPENO CASHEW CHEDDAR CHEESE:
Stir in 2 Tbsp. minced jalapeno pepper chiles into 2 cups of melted cheese.

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