I don’t know about you but I’ve tried a few commercially made vegan cheeses with little or no luck. My biggest issue with them is that they are so processed and often made with a fair quantity of oils. I’ll keep looking around, or I may at some point start researching and making my own “cheezes”, but I doubt I’ll really have time for that.
My general philosophy on such things is not to try and come up with imitation versions of animal foods. I embrace plants and think that they are delicious with endless possibilities. I do get that people miss burgers, or grilled cheese sandwiches, so I don’t judge you if you build those foods into your eating- I say, do what you want! I simply tend to be reticent.
This all being said, I have missed ricotta. Yogurt too, but I’ll save that for another day. In my pre-plant based days I used ricotta often to round out a dish, or add some protein and tang to a recipe. I did a bunch of research on how to make vegan ricotta. There are surprising numbers of variations out there. Some with soaked and ground cashews or almonds, and some that are quite complicated. As you know I am not shy of a long process, or even experimenting, but dang- does it always have to be so hard? Turns out the answer is no.
I think I saw a version of this somewhere that remained stuck in my brain, but when I went to look I couldn’t find it. So I just decided to wing it myself. This version took all of 3 minutes, and only because it takes a minute and a half to open the container of tofu, drain it and give a squeeze to remove some of the water. More importantly- I LOVED it!!!! It has the right consistency, the right amount of tang and a good balance of fats and protein. Depending on how your tofu is made it also has some decent calcium too.
I know that some people avoid tofu. I need to do a post on my research and opinion about that. The short version is that I believe that reasonable amounts of tofu in your diet is a benefit. The bad news you’ve heard was on tests where people were eating tons! No one really eats tons. But look, if you’re not into tofu, I apologize, this recipe is not for you. It’s your call. And for people who don’t like tofu because…. well, you don’t like tofu, I say don’t shy away from this. I can honestly say that if I served this to you on crackers (and it is delicious in just this way), that you would never know how it was made unless I told you.
So if you’re looking for a fast, fresh and remarkably similar alternative to ricotta for stuffing pasta shells, or smearing on toasts- this one’s for you. Here’s a photo of the ricotta on toasted sourdough bread with grilled ramp leaves and crushed pink peppercorns- it was super yummy.
Ingredients
- 1 13 oz package of firm tofu
- 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 lemon, juiced- about 4 tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Drain the tofu and give it a quick squeeze to release some of the water.
Roughly break up and place into a food processor.
Add the seeds, lemon juice and salt- then blitz until you get a ricotta-like consistency. It took me about a full minute.
And that's it folks! I added a touch of fresh garlic to mine, and feel free to add some fresh herbs to create an interesting alternative dip.
It will stay in the fridge for a good week.