Sliceable Pistachio Cheese
Did you know you can make homemade vegan cheese using pistachios in 20 minutes? It will have a beautiful green color, a nutty, cheesy flavor, and a perfectly sliceable texture. Enjoy it on toast, or make a spectacular vegan appetizer for Christmas by adding cranberry jelly.
Servings 1 bundt (5-inch)
Calories 551kcal
Equipment
- Immersion hand blender with 20 fl oz container
- Non-stick frying pan (10.5 inch / 26 cm)
- Simple silicone bundt mold
- Snow flake silicone mold (Disney Frozen inspired)
- Gingerbread house silicone mold
- Cheese knives set with wooden handle
- Bamboo cheese board
Ingredients
Optional ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Spirulina powder or
- 1 Tbsp Spinach powder
- ½ cup Cranberry jelly
Instructions
Preparations
- Peel pistachios. Use a fine mesh sieve to wash off the salt if you buy salted ones.
- Boil water in a kettle. Soak pistachio nuts in hot water for 5 minutes to soften them. You can soak them overnight.
- Dissolve miso paste in hot water.
Blending
- Use a blender and add soaked pistachios, dairy-free milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic powder, and salt.
- Blend until smooth. You don't necessarily need a high-power blender, we used our immersion blender, and it was perfect.
Thickening
- Add the blended mix to a small saucepan. Bring it to medium heat.
- When it is hot, add the dissolved miso paste and stir to combine.
- Add the optional spirulina or spinach powder for a green color boost here. Finally, add agar-agar and stir to combine.
- After 5-6 minutes of cooking, pour the pistachio cheese mixture into a silicone mold while it is still hot. It sets pretty quickly after that.
Video
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Notes
It is the most popular vegan alternative for gelatin. What both thickeners have in common is that they need heat to activate them. To properly melt agar, boil it at 212 °F (100 °C) and simmer it for 3 to 5 minutes.
Unlike starches, where you can see the liquid thickening on the stove, you will not see any change in texture with agar. However, agar sets quite quickly(!!!) at 90–104 °F (32-40 °C). Prepare your mold in advance, as you will not have time to search for it later!