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.
These days I’m not so much the dairy dodger. I’ve found good quality organic dairy, cheese, butter, yoghurt, and cream from happy cows, works just fine for me. But, as variety is so important, and after my indulgent cheese-for-every-meal Italian holiday this August (the opposite of moderation) it’s been fun to play around with this alternative.
Nuts are such a good resource. In their raw or roasted form, nuts are used in salads for crunch; finely ground as flour in baked goods; soaked, blended, and strained for a milk. Soaked, drained and blended they can also be used to make an alternative cream cheese.
Cashews are the creamiest of nuts, well suited to this recipe. Macadamia nuts have a creamy star quality too, but with being mainly grown in Australia, the cost in the UK isn’t too purse friendly.
Figs with cheese, mint, pine nuts and Millefiori Honey
I have used this recipe as a starter at some of my catering jobs!
I first played around with nut cheese to create a Tricolore salad for a vegan Italian feast community cooking class I led at Made In Hackney last weekend. I decided to do something different with the leftovers from my recipe testing at home and came up with this fabulous starter inspired by the stunningly delicious figs that are doing the rounds at this time of year. In savoury or sweet dishes, or just for a snack – they will remain in my shopping basket until they go out of season.
This fig and cashew cheese dish was finished off with some beautiful millefiori honey I bought in Tuscany at Borgo Pignano. You don’t have to go all the way to Tuscany to recreate this dish, just get yourself some local, raw floral honey. Look for raw, unfiltered, on the label.
Millefiori honey from Borgo Pignano, Tuscany
- 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
- 4 figs
- 4 Tbs of cashew cheese
- 8 mint leaves, cut in chiffonade
- 1 Tbs pine nuts
- 2 tsp honey (approximately)
- 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.
You can add nutritional yeast to the cashew mix for a cheesier flavor, if you want, – it’s just one of few food things in life I can’t and won’t eat!
There will be some cashew cheese left over, so here are some other ideas!
- Spoon over large tomato slices with a drizzle of pesto for a tricolore.
- Thin with almond milk, toss over courgetti, and top with smoked salmon.
- Spread on gluten free crackers, top with prosciutto and chopped herb of choice.
Ever tried cashew cheese? What would you do with your leftovers??
Ah, this has long been on my list of things to make! I just haven’t got around to it yet. I plan to make a cheesecake with mine. Will let you know how it goes!
I’ve never had quite enough patience to make a cashew cheesecake but I know they are brilliant (if a little dense in calories), would love to see/hear how you get along!
Oh! That luscious photograph! I want to just dive in head first and wallow around!
That would be kind of messy though right? Thrilled to hear my photography and cooking has had that effect!
I love figs and bought a load on Friday when they were on offer in Waitrose. I have never had cashew cheese though so am rather intrigued. Does it have a nutty taste?
I love a good special offer to make the most of a fruit bounty! Since cashews are creamy rather than nutty (like almonds or say hazelnuts which have a strong taste) it does taste less nutty than you might imagine!
what a pretty plate of food, a joy for anyone at a dinner party I am sure! Lovely balance with the sweetness of nuts and the smooth figs x
Thank you Deena! I do love to make pretty food! It tastes better 🙂 x