Cashew Mozzarella
a cashew cheese that melts and stretches
Cashews are a vegans best friend honestly, they just make the best base. After soaking and blending them to a smooth consistency to make a sort of cashew cream it becomes perfect for using in all kinds of recipes from creamy sauces to firm plant-based cheeses like this one.
For a thickener and stabilizer I used a combination of agar agar powder and tapioca starch. The mozzarella balls firm up in a salt water brine giving them a more firm bounciness to them and then from there I marinated them with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, lemon and some spices and wow - truly amazing and delicious.
What is agar agar ?
Agar is a jelly-like substance derived from red algae. It is used to gel, thicken, and stabilize cosmetic formulations.
Being insoluble in cold water, Agar is able to absorb as much as twenty times its weight and dissolves readily in boiling water.
What you will need:
High Powered Blender
Rubber Spatula
Measuring Cups + Spoons
Cheese Cloth
Sauce Pot / Sauté Pan
A Bowl
A Small to Medium Sized Portioning Scoop
Cashew Mozzarella
yields 1 pound of mozzarella / prep 1 hour - chill time 1-2 hours
Ingredients
1 cup - soaked cashews
1 cup - plain, unsweetened yogurt
1/2 cup - filtered water
2 tsp - salt
1/4 cup - nutritional yeast
1 tsp - miso paste
2 tsp - dijon mustard
1/4 cup - lemon juice
2 tbsp - tapioca starch
1 tbsp - agar agar powder
1/2 cup - filtered water
Salt Water Brine
3 cups - filtered water
3 tbsp - salt
1 cup - ice
Marinade
2 cups - good quality olive oil
1 tsp - minced garlic
1 lemons worth of sliced lemon rind / zest
1/2 tbsp - fresh thyme
1 tbsp - fresh rosemary
salt, pepper, and red chili flakes to taste
Instructions
Step 1 - Blender time
There is nothing worse than going to make something and realizing you don’t have the stuff ! Take this moment to gather everything.
In the blender add in everything except the tapioca , agar powder and the second half cup of water as that will be added later.
Blend this all until the mixture is smooth and then pour this mixture into a sauce pot or sauté pan.
Step 2 - Time to add the tapioca and agar powder
Mix together the remaining half cup of water with the agar and tapioca powder and let this mingle for about 5 minutes before pouring into the cashew mixture in the pot. For this step you are going to want to pay close attention and keep the mixture moving, mixing for about 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens so much it starts to cling to itself and take on a new, thicker texture. This is when you can start scooping the mixture into the salt water brine.
Step 3 - Scoop + Brine
Using the portioning scoop, scoop out balls of the cashew cheese mixture and plop them into the cold and icy salt water brine to help them firm and solidify. Once all the mixture has been scooped, let these balls of mozzarella “set” in the fridge for an hour or two. You can also prepare the marinade while this is going on.
Step 4 - Make the Marinade
You can prepare the marinade separately or over the mozzarella balls. I had about 12 mozzarella balls so I saved 6 of them in the brine to keep “regular” and then prepared the marinade over the remaining 6.
I recommend doing this in a glass food container as you want to be gentle and not toss these around too much and then that what way they are already in the container you would save them in.
Pour over the olive oil, and sprinkle in the lemon rind slices, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, red chili flakes and add in the minced garlic. Give this a light mix around to let everything mingle and that’s it. They are good to eat right after marinating but they do taste better the longer they sit in the marinade.
Step 5 - Serving
To serve, these are great in salads like panzanella or served with some crostini’s and honestly even on their own as they just make a great appetizer.
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3