Last year, Isa from the blog Delicias Kitchen wrote an article for my blog with a list of her recipes that were ideal for a vegan brunch. One of these recipes is called “sweet ricotta with macadamia nuts”. When she suggested to add it to the post I was at first pretty surprised of the name of the recipe, but above all my mouth watered as I thought about the taste of ricotta cheese. I remember several questions coming to my head: Ricotta macadamia? A cheese made with nuts? And not any cheese, but ricotta, one common cheese in Italy and one that I miss here in Spain. I got very curious about it and I started to do some research. I found several versions of this recipe and I decided to try a few just to compare.
It is clear that its flavor has nothing to do with the taste of ricotta, but that’s normal, since the main ingredient used for a traditional ricotta comes from an animal and the one we use in this recipe is a nut and comes from a tree 😀
However, I think it’s a quite interesting recipe and suitable for brunch, breakfast, snack or even to give a different taste to several dishes. I’d say it’s one of those versatile recipes that can save you when you have no inspiration to cook. In addition, you can give it a completely different flavor by mixing in whatever you prefer, like some crushed fruit pieces or spices. And, as if all this was not enough, it is super easy to prepare AND it’s also a healthy recipe.
For all these reasons, I decided to add my version of this recipe to the blog, but before doing so I have been thinking of an appropriate name and I have come to the conclusion that calling it macadamia nut vegan cheese would be a more appropriate option not to generate too many expectations. What do you think?
I insist on the fact that it’s an easy recipe to prepare, and it’s made with just few ingredients that are found in almost all Spanish stores and supermarkets.
As I said, it’s versatile because you can prepare a neutral version of it and use it with sweet or savoury toppings. In addition, you can store it in the fridge for a long time in a well-sealed container and you will see that you will probably more use for it than just spreading it on bread.
Another name that could be given to this recipe would be macadamia cheese since the main ingredient is the macadamia nut. The price for these nuts in Spain is not cheap, but let’s have a look at this nut’s benefits and see if they are worth the high price.
Macadamia nuts contain vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Among other nuts, macadamia nuts are the ones that have a higher amount of fat, mainly Omega 9, which helps to regulate inflammation in the body. Thanks to a study on the effects of eating macadamia nuts, it has also been discovered that eating them can help lower bad cholesterol levels. Finally, this nut is essential for a diet against constipation and, thanks to its satiating power, it helps reduce appetite, which gives them an important role in diets for obese people.
Now, with all this information, would you like to prepare this macadamia nut vegan cheese?
10 minPrep Time
10 minTotal Time
Ingredients
Instructions
- Leave the nuts to soak in hot water for one hour.
- Remove the nuts from the water but save the water.
- Put the nuts in a blender together with 4 tablespoons of the saved water.
- Add a pinch of salt and mix everything until it looks like in the photos.
- If you prefer a sweet version add 1 teaspoon of vanilla, or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice if you prefer a savoury version.