Vegan Parmesan
The Recipe:
Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Ingredients
- 110 g (¾ cup) raw cashews
- 12 g (4 tbsp) nutritional yeast or more. go for it.
- 20 g (2 tbsp) raw pine nuts
- 15 g (1 tbsp) chopped green olives (~5 olives) patted dry
- ¾ teaspoon table salt flavoured/smoked salt works beautifully
- lemon zest or juice untested
- ½ tbsp White miso paste optional
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275°F/140°C/Fan 120°C degrees. Process cashews, nutritional yeast, pine nuts, olives, miso (if using) and salt in food processor until finely ground, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
- Spread mixture on rimmed baking sheet in even layer. Bake until mixture is light golden and dry to the touch, about 20-30 minutes, (30-40 if using miso too), stirring mixture and rotating pan halfway through baking.
- Let mixture cool completely, about 15 minutes. Break apart any large clumps before serving. (Parmesan substitute can be refrigerated for up to 1 month.)
The Waffle:
We’re not vegan, I just enjoy the challenge of cooking vegan meals from time to time, so I made this from an America’s Test Kitchen recipe to go with a vegan one pot pasta dish. When we ran out of it, I missed it, but, we agreed, something was missing, so I tried a little garlic powder and onion powder – since I’ve seen others online using them, but then it tasted vaguely of sour cream and onion potato chips, which I love, don’t get me wrong, but “on pasta” wasn’t really the place for that. The next time I made it, I omitted the powders and and added some miso paste and it was back to something I found myself eating straight out of the jar as I put it away after dinner.
I’ve been using Nocella olives, I might try a stronger flavoured olive, and maybe some lemon zest or juice. I also thought capers might work, but really, the “salty” is sorted, I think maybe it’s the “acid” that needs a tiny bump.