Vegan Cashew Ricotta with Basil

Recipe Difficulty: Easy (just takes a bit of forethought to soak cashews overnight)

Recipe Keywords: Vegan Cashew Ricotta, Basil, Vegan Cheese, Pizza, Pasta, Lasagna, Salad

My cashew ricotta recipes notes
Cashew Ricotta is a simple dairy free plant based alternative to ricotta cheese, and it tastes amazing! Raw cashews are soaked overnight, and then blended with a bit of tofu, hot water, nutritional yeast, olive oil, garlic, miso paste, lemon juice, onion powder, fresh basil & salt. The results are actually incredible. Not all home made vegan cheeses that are this simple result in something I love as much as I love this recipe. It just works. 

If you are new to a recipe like this, making plant based cheese might seem like a bit of a hurdle or even unappealing... But.... I promise you, the flavour is impressive, and it couldn't be more simple to prepare. All you need is a food processor to blend up the ingredients and you will be on your way to making something that's delicious and satisfying all while using good for you ingredients. I find that it is when the ricotta is heated and served in a specific dish is when the flavours are impressive. Just tasting it out of the food processor it is good, but the magic happens later. 

How to use this vegan ricotta
​I originally developed this cashew & tofu based ricotta to use in my Zucchini Involtini Recipe.
 I have also made incredible lasagna, heirloom tomato salad, tomato and caramelized onion galette, and chickpea omelets using this recipe. Things I hope to revisit and share eventually!

You could also simply spread this cashew ricotta on toast (fancy!), use it in sandwiches or enjoy it tucked into wraps, as a filling for phyllo dough and or on pizza/flatbreads. 

Basil
I have tried this ricotta just before adding the basil, and it isn't as good without. It is the fresh basil that takes it over the top and makes it such an epic ingredient in the dishes I've used it in. So while I think it could be fun to try different herbs and variations, I definitely recommend trying it this way first.