No-Oil Liquid Mozzarella

This recipe is both dairy-free and oil-free. This recipe is an update of a no-oil mozzarella recipe that I have been using for years, but I have tweaked it a bit to improve the taste and add the desired texture. In fact, one of the reasons it took me so long to release this recipe is because I am always experimenting with my cheeses. As I update this recipe, I will be sure to make it known. For now, this is it for me.

You may use almonds or cashews, but the 50-50 combination ratio of almonds to cashews works really well for me. You will not have to strain the milk you if you make this cheese with just cashews (and the ending product does remind me of the mozzarella cheese that used to be on frozen pizza in the 1990s). Both nuts taste great and are both very nutritious and good for weight loss. Really, you will not go wrong if you use either nut, but cashews will have MORE oily creaminess than almonds. I remember reading that almond milk became popularized due to its use by Seventh-Day Adventists. In truth, before I started making the neutral-tasting soymilk, almond milk was my all-time fav!!

Remember, these are SOAKED measurements; so don’t measure out the dry nuts. This is blended and strained through a milk bag to remove any pulp from the almonds. This milk is thick, but as we have no oil in this recipe, we need the milk to be thick.

The plain plant-based yogurt adds a “lactic” taste to this recipe. For this recipe I use the Asian-style soymilk yogurt. It has a more distinct flavor that I love in my cheeses, though any plain plant-based yogurt will do. Soy yogurt is the easiest yogurt to make, in my humble opinion. I love the SDA-style soy yogurt to eat, but to make my cheeses, I only use the Asian-style. Yes, I keep both versions in my refrigerator pretty much at all times. Again, you may use whatever plain plant-based yogurt you like. If getting or making the yogurt is too much of a hassle for you, add a couple of tablespoons of fresh lime/lemon juice and leave the yogurt out. It doesn’t exactly the taste the same, but it’s still very good. If you’re adding the lime/lemon juice to replace the yogurt, you may omit the amount of optional lime juice requested in the recipe.

Taken as written, you may also exclude the starch, agar, and lecithin without disturbing the flavor, but the texture may seem off. The main point of me saying this is to let you know, you control what you put into the cheese. You make it your own. I’m sharing my recipe as a template from which to add or subtract ingredients.

This cheese has to be cooked, steamed, or baked for at least until the cheese sets up. The starch must be cooked. See the photos below for a steamed pizza bread I did to showcase this. Before adding the liquid cheese to any recipe, it is a good practice to cook the blended mixture for about a bit more than a minute, or until about half of it thickens up, then pour it back into the blender and blend it. It should be thick, but pourable. I then put it into a squeezy container and poured it over my pizza bread. The thickened sauce makes it easier to handle and sure beats a liquid mess going everywhere. However, it still must be cooked further so that the starch can set up and the agar can cook out (at least 5 minutes in all). Now, if you want to cook it for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, you may do that, but I find that harder to spread and handle… I encourage you to do what works for you! Once, the cheese is baked or cooked, I often broil it for 2-3 minutes to brown it on top.

Now, without further ado, here’s the recipe…

No-Oil Liquid Mozzarella

Ingredients:

• 1 c. water
• ½ c. soaked nuts (almonds, cashews, or combination)
• 4 Tbs. tapioca starch
• 2 Tbs. plain soy yogurt (any)
• 1 ½ tsp. pure salt or to taste
• 2-3 tsp. nutritional yeast
• ¼ – 1 tsp. fresh lime/lemon juice (depending on taste), optional
• ½  tsp. dried onion
• ¼ tsp. sunflower lecithin
• ½ tsp. agar powder
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• pinch dried oregano or rosemary, optional (flavoring)

Instructions:

1. Blend water, almonds, and cashews and stain through a milk bag and pour back into blender. 
2. Add all remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. 
3. Cook the mixture halfway, leaving about half the mixture in its liquid state. This thickens the liquid and makes it more manageable. (Typically, I add the thickened mixture to a squeeze bottle and drizzle it. If I need it runnier, I do not cook it for long, only a bit more than a minute or so. My goal is to thicken the liquid so that it’s not running everywhere, but thin enough to evenly spread). Alternatively, you may spoon the liquid onto your desired dish and make sure it is bubbling for at least five minutes in whatever dish you add this liquid cheese to in order to cook the starch and agar.
4. Broil for 2-3 minutes on high to brown to your desired look, if desired, … and enjoy!