"Hi all! This cheese was so good I wanted to share the recipe! It's great on a holiday cheeseboard with pickles, olives, nuts, dried fruit, grapes and figs! Use crostini, crackers or rice crackers and sliced cucumbers if you want to keep it GF. Party on!"
Vegan Pepper Jack Cheese
4
- ★★
- ★★
- ★★
- ★★
- ★★
Recipe Intro From therawandthecooked
Vegans can have a cheese platter, too! It holds together with agar-agar which is an algae based gelling agent.
Vegan Pepper Jack Cheese
Ingredients
3 Tablespoons agar agar flakes
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup cashews, soaked if possible 2 hours and drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon arrowroot powder
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh peppers (jalapeño or bell pepper), seeded
1 teaspoon smoked paprika, for dusting at the end
Method
First add the agar agar flakes to a sauce pan with 1/2 cup water and set aside.
Add the cashews, the other 1/2 cup of water, lemon juice, salt, garlic, nutritional yeast and arrowroot powder to a blender. Blend until smooth and add to the saucepan with the agar agar.
Whisk well and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting and cook for 5 minutes. It will have the consistency of thick pancake batter.
At the last minute, fold in the finely chopped peppers and stir well.
Prepare your mold (I used a 3" diameter ramikin) by cutting a piece of parchment paper the exact size of the bottom of your mold to help it release when it's cooled. Place the paper in the mold and set aside.
Pour into whatever mold you are using and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. It should be about the firmness of extra firm tofu or a soft cheese, and will be sliceable!