Port Wine “Cheese” ~ gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free
I know I was quiet on here for over a week. A little unusual since I was posting regularly. Rest assured I’m not super sick or life is spiraling out of control as it seems to do when I disappear. I really didn’t mean to. Every time I sat down at the laptop to write this post dialogue, scenes, and ideas swirled through my brain and I had to write them down. I’m not even sure what happened this week other than I spent a lot of time typing on the keyboard. So much so that Chaz was wondering what happened to his wife. He’s never seen me in full-blown creative writing mode. I’m not sure he likes this mode of mine, but he didn’t complain.
Finally, I can give you this recipe I keep making this week because I can’t seem to stop eating it. Chaz and I used to eat a lot of port wine cheese years ago. I can’t remember when we stopped buying it, but I started missing it recently and decided I needed to play with a dairy-free version.
You can eat this with your favorite gluten-free crackers or with veggie sticks. I ran out of celery pairing it with this. If you are vegan, make sure your port wine is vegan like Crusted Port, Single Quinta Port, Traditional LBV, or Vintage Port.
Port Wine “Cheese”
1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours
3 tablespoons port wine
1 tablespoon olive oil or grapeseed oil (I like it better with the olive oil)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon filtered water
salt, to taste
Place all ingredients in a food processor and process for a few minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom as best you can and process for a few minutes. Test it and adjust salt as needed. Repeat scraping down the sides and bottom. Process until it is as smooth as you want and then chill in the refrigerator. You can eat it when it is done processing. Chilling it makes it firmer like a regular dairy port wine cheese would be.
This recipe is linked to Wellness Weekends at Diet, Dessert, and Dogs; 5-Ingredient Mondays at The Daily Dietribe; Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free; and Gluten-Free Wednesdays at The Gluten-Free Homemaker.
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This sounds amazing! I didn’t realize how much I missed Port Wine Cheese until reading your post. Now you’ve inspired me to get into the kitchen and take cheese back, just without the dairy! 🙂
Take the “cheese” back and show it who’s the boss, Johnna! 😀
Debi, you know I am dying to read what you’re writing! I used to be an assistant film scout for Universal (I read books and magazines and let them know what I thought-easiest job ever) so maybe someday I can pass your book along to them. 🙂
Love the idea of this recipe! Thanks for sharing at 5-Ingredient Mondays!
Here’s a secret. 😀 A few years back I posted the first two chapters on FB. They are in my “Notes.” Both are unedited. I’ve edited them a few times since then, changed the tense and a name or two. lol
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