Recipes & Inspirations

Vegan cheese: from cashew to “parmesan”!

With some dried fruit and just a few other ingredients, you can make a vegan cashew cheese, full of flavour and firm in texture, to be used grated or in flakes as a plant-based alternative to traditional mature cheese.

Drying allows the water to be gradually removed from the mixture, concentrating its flavour and texture. It is one of many examples of how a food dehydrator can be used  not just for fruit and vegetables, but also for creative dishes, doughs and plant-based recipes.

Ingredients

For about 350 g of vegan cheese:

• 250 g of mixed nuts, including cashew nuts and pine nuts
• 250 ml of water
• 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• thinly sliced shallot
• lemon

Procedure

Put the cashew nuts, soaked for about 4 hours. Once this time has elapsed, drain them and blend them together with the pine nuts, nutritional yeast, salt, shallot and lemon.

Gradually add the necessary amount of water until you have a thick, creamy and smooth mixture. As a rough guide, 250 ml should be enough, but the amount may vary slightly depending on the consistency of the ingredients.

Then spread the mixture out on the dehydrator trays to form an even layer.

For creamy or particularly moist mixtures, it is advisable to use a DrySilk non-stick sheet, designed specifically to dry purées, water-based mixtures and foods that might stick to or pass through the holes in the baskets.

Spread the mixture as evenly as possible: This will allow the air to circulate evenly, making it easier to achieve a consistent texture throughout the mixture.

Programme

Started Biosec with the P1 programme and leave to dry for approximately 16–20 hours.

P1 is Biosec’s automatic and versatile programme, which reaches a maximum temperature of 55 °C. You can find out more about how it works and its features in the guide to Biosec drying programmes.

After about 6–8 hours, once the surface of the mixture is dry enough, turn it over gently and continue drying the other side.

The P1 programme has a longer automatic duration, but for this preparation It is not necessary to wait until the cycle is completely finished: Check the mixture and stop drying it once it has reached the desired consistency.

For a softer, more compact result, you can stop earlier; if you prolong the process, however, you will obtain a product drier and crumbly, also suitable for crumbling or grating.

As with all dried mixtures, the time given is a guide only: the thickness of the mixture, the amount of water used and the ambient humidity may affect the actual duration of the process.

Conservation

Once the desired level of dryness has been achieved, store the vegan cheese in a tightly sealed glass container, away from light, heat and moisture.

Before putting it away, make sure there are no areas that are still too damp, especially if you have chosen a very compact texture. For more information on this stage, please refer to the guide on how to store dried food properly.

The result is a vegetable-based product with an intense flavour, which can be used in flakes, crumbled or grated to enhance pasta, salads, vegetables and many other dishes.

Recipe by Sara Cargnello