Bruschetta with Vegan Cream Cheese & Mushrooms
Bruschetta are always great, the perfect quick bite, ideal for an afternoon snack or as an appetizer during a dinner party. This version with homemade vegan cream cheese and mushrooms is delicious!
Vegan Cream Cheese
I’ve always been a big fan of cheese, Gouda, Emmental, parmesan and ricotta, cheese fondue, cheese cake, aaaahh, yum!! But unfortunately my body protests every time I consume cheese and on top of that the dairy industry is pretty awful! So I’ve been looking for a vegan alternative but I’ll be honest I’m not a fan of most vegan cheeses that are being sold in grocery stores. I’ve tried several and the flavour is often not at all cheesy and sometimes just smelling the cheese activates my gag reflex!! I’m not sure why but obviously they’re just not for me!
But I saw a video last week about vegan cheese making on Youtube and it has me intrigued! And I’ve basically been reading up on it ever since. There are many ways of doing it and many different base ingredients to try and test so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun!
The vegan cheese I made for the bruschetta is a cultured cream cheese made of cashew nuts. It is very easy to make, all you need is the ingredients, a blender and some time while you wait for it to ferment!
A note on cashews
I’m using cashews in this recipe because so many vegan cheese recipes use cashews as the base ingredient but I will try alternative ingredients in the future. Since I’d like to live a regenerative lifestyle, I want to use ingredients that are sustainable and also don’t harm the people that process them. Cashews may be a plant based ingredient but shelling them is often highly damaging to the people processing them by hand. Cashew nut shells contain potent, caustic, toxic chemicals (Anacardic Acid, Cardol and Urushiol, all found naturally in the shells) that begin to burn the flesh on contact. Often entire families, including kids, must endure excruciating pain in their hands and upper body from chronic contact with the cashew shells.
It is possible to shell cashews by machine but it seems that this is still a rare occurrence, so it’s a good idea to do some research in which cashews to buy so you’re sure you’re getting machine shelled cashews, or simply use alternative ingredients.
scroll down for the Bruschetta recipe
Cultured Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese
Equipment
- High power blender – though a regular blender or food processor is fine if you don't have a high power blender, the cheese will just end up being a little more grainier.
- mixing bowl (plastic, porcelain or glass, avoid metal)
- spoon (plastic, porcelain or glass, avoid metal)
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashew nuts
- water to soak cashew nuts
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ½ water
- 1 probiotic capsule*
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a bowl, cover them with water and let them soak for at least 6hrs or a night.
- After soaking, drain the cashews, rinse with some water, drain again and ad to the blender. Add minced garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, sea salt and about ¼ of a cup of water. Blend til smooth and creamy, adding a little bit extra water if needed (I ended up adding an extra ⅛ cup of water) and scraping down the sides to make sure everything is well incorporated.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed but be aware that the flavours will change while fermenting.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the probiotic powder from the capsule, stir with a spoon to combine.
- Cover the bowl with a cloth or dish and let it sit on your kitchen counter to ferment the cashew cheese for at least 24hrs, up to 72hrs**. The longer you ferment it the more tangy and sour it becomes. So taste at certain times to see if it's ready – make sure you use a clean spoon when you scoop out your sample. I fermented my cheese for 72hrs and loved it but I think some people might prefer a less tangy cheese.
- Enjoy! This cheese will be great on bread, crackers, as a base for a cheesy sauce or other savoury dishes you'd normally use cream cheese for! This cheese keep for about 7 days in the fridge.
Notes
Bruschetta with Vegan Cream Cheese & Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1 rustic French bread or Ciabatta, cut in 2cm thick slices
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Shallot, diced finely
- 1 clove of Garlic, minced
- 200 gr chestnut mushrooms, cut in small pieces
- Herbs (fresh basil or thyme could be great)
- 1 pinch Salt
- ½ Lemon, juiced (optional)
- 1 handful of Arugula
- 100 g vegan cream cheese*
Instructions
Prepare the mushrooms
- Add 2 Tbsps of olive oil and onion to a frying pan or wok. Cook for a minute or two til the onion gets translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add the mushrooms, herbs and a pinch of salt. Fry for a few minutes til the mushrooms are cooked through and start to brown a bit.
- turn off the heat and drizzle over some lemon juice (optional, depending on how tangy your cream cheese is you may not need the extra tanginess of the lemon juice).
Assemble the bruschetta
- While the mushrooms are cooking you can place the bread slices under the grill for a minute or two to toast them (optional).
- Spread some vegan cream cheese on all pieces of bread, add a few leaves of arugula and top with the fried mushrooms!
- Enjoy!!
Notes
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21 April 2021 by INE BEERTEN
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