Last night I made this delicious vegan “ricotta” dip for my parents who are in town visiting us. The boys and I are having a blast with them, though I am having an especially great time, since I have extra mouths to feed, which means more guinea pigs to test my creations!
Luckily, the parents (and husband) approved of, and devoured, this tangy vegan cheese dip, based on a recipe from the phenomenal book Entertaining in the Raw by Matthew Kenney.
Creamy "Ricotta" Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup pine nuts, soaked overnight
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 scallion (green and white parts, remove and discard tip), minced
- 1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
Instructions
- Rinse pine nuts in cold water; then discard both soaking and rinsing water
- Place pine nuts in a food processor, along with lemon juice and water
- Process for 1-2 minutes, scraping down side of processor frequently, until smooth
- Process in scallions, thyme and salt, until texture of ricotta
- Remove from food processor to a serving dish
- Serve with your favorite dipping veggies
Equipment
I had a bit of a challenge getting this mixture to process; if that happens to you, just add a bit more liquid (lemon juice or water) very sparingly until mixture blends more easily and keep scraping down the mixture into the center of the food processor.
In addition to an abundance of cooking and baking, a lot is going on over here and I’m trying to keep up! Below is a list of interviews and appearances that I have coming up in the next few weeks to promote the release of my book, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.
- Interview with Martha Stewart Living Radio’s Whole Living program, August 26th
- Book signing at the Culinary Institute of America’s 4th Annual Gluten-Free Summit, Hyde Park, New York, September 12th
- Speaker at the 2009 BlogHer Food Agenda Conference in San Francisco, September 26th
If you’re in the area of any of these events and would like to say “hello,” tune in or drop by!
Amy Green - Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free says
I have seen so many people using nuts as a base substitute for dairy – I’ve never tried it because I can eat dairy but I think I might give this a spin. Sounds good.
Dena says
This looks great! I’ll look for pine nuts in the shuk/farmer’s market this week.
I faced a challenge that Shabbat — my cousin came for lunch, and he’s a no meat/fish/cheese guy, and with my daughter being GF, I had to rethink how I cook for Shabbat! So we did a variety of cold salads, including your zucchini salad, and it was a hit! I loved how fresh the zucchini salad was. Simple yet full of flavor. Thanks!
Katrina (gluten free gidget) says
Would this work in a lasagna recipe as the ricotta substitute?
donna says
i just got the book and love it! i already made several items from it and am already addicted to the drop biscuits!
gfe-gluten free easily says
Great recipe, Elana! I’m so excited that you will be speaking at the BlogHer Food conference in San Francisco as I will be attending–can’t wait to meet you! :-)
Shirley
P.S. My Honeyville almond flour arrived today. I can get busy now. LOL
Julia says
I make “cashew cheese” much the same way and it’s delicious! I will definitely give pine nuts a try.
Alchemille says
Wonderful! I love pine nuts.
I wish they were used more often in raw/vegan recipes…
Laurie Buchanan says
I have gone to Amazon.com to order your book and I just wanted to say that the 3 pages of the book that are on that website make it look really great!
Sandra Gillett says
I love pine nuts! I can’t wait to try this dip, I haven’t had dip in a long long time. Thank you so much Elana! Your recipes help me feel “normal”.
Sandra Gillett says
It is really great. You will enjoy it completely. As soon as I got mine I sat down and read it cover to cover.
VeggieGirl says
Great dip variation!!
Meagan says
What an interesting idea! You aren’t afraid to try anything!