Author: Ceri Jones, Cheese adapted from Mind Body Green
Recipe type: Starter
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: serves 4
An elegant autumnal starter making use of beautiful figs and cashew cream cheese - a clever dairy-free cheese homemade from soaked and blended cashew nuts.
Ingredients
Nut Cheese:
100g cashews soaked for 4 hours (or overnight)* SEE NOTE
2 Tbs (30 mls) water
Juice of ½ lemon
½ tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
For the dish:
4 figs
4 Tbs of cashew cheese
8 mint leaves, cut in chiffonade
1 Tbs pine nuts
2 tsp honey (approximately)
Instructions
Place the soaked, drained and rinsed cashews in a blender (or jug of a stick blender) with the rest of the ingredients. Blend and taste. Adjust salt, if necessary. For a runnier cream add more water. Transfer to a ramekin or small glass jar and place in the fridge until ready to serve. The cheese will firm up over time.
For the dish. First toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan till golden. Set aside.
Cut the top stem off the fig and make a cross cut in the top. Squeeze the base of the fig to force the quarters apart to make a cavern for the filling.
Spoon a Tablespoon of the cheese into the fig, scatter the pine nuts and mint over it, and a teeny drizzle of honey.
Notes
Soak the cashews for at least 4 hours so they soften up ready to be blended into a cheese. Cover the cashews in filtered water, cover and place in a cool dark place. After 4 hours drain and rinse the cashews to get rid of any slimy residue (the residue contains the anti-nutrient phytates we want to get rid of in raw nuts).
Recipe by Ceri Jones Chef at https://cerijoneschef.com/figs-stuffed-vegan-cashew-cream-cheese/