Cashew Cheese

Source: Bonita Harmse

This is a inexpensive and healthy dairy cheese substitute/alternative which is very versatile and is vegan and gluten free as well. It has the convenience of being runny, but after standing it thickens, so is great for on top of a pizza or on veggies to give them a bit more flavour and savour. It is also great for Lasagne, Macaroni Cheese and as a dip.

Ingredients:

1 cup of water

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup cashews

2-3 Tbs tahini

2 Tbs nutritional yeast flakes

1/2 red capsicum (fresh) or about 1/2 red sweet pepper (bottled - they usually are very big)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 clove of garlic (medium or large size) depends on individual taste

Method:

Blend all the ingredients together until smooth & drizzle over pizza. This cheese thickens as it is left to stand or is in the refrigerator. Makes enough to top 4 x 12” pizzas. Use this as a replacement for any cheese recipe, ie macaroni cheese or over veggies baked in the oven etc.

If you have time you can double the mixture and freeze in different size containers for another day and another dish as it will keep frozen for several weeks. You can choose different size containers to store the cheese in the freezer according to dishes you may plan to make in future.