Vegan Almond "Ricotta" - A Non-Dairy Decadence Made Easy

Who doesn’t crave a creamy bubbly lasagna, or a decadent stuffed ravioli? Who wouldn’t want to indulge in a sweet and crispy cannoli, or sweet & fluffy crepes? These classic comfort foods all have one traditional ingredient in common: ricotta cheese. Everyone loves comfort food, even vegans!

Throughout the years, I’ve been making various vegan ricottas using many different ingredients as the base, and have had some successes and drawbacks. My first one contained a base of firm & soft tofu. It pureed beautifully and for a long time, it was my go-to ricotta for baked pastas. The big drawback was that unless it was baked (like for lasagna or manicotti), it had a very unpleasant raw tofu taste, so it wasn’t great for raw application (such as for tarts or crepes).

The next one I made had a cashew base. This was delicious, and was definitely better for raw application. But it required a larger amount of cashews, which can be costly. Cashews almost always require several hours of soaking, and sometimes I want ricotta now!

So after years of tinkering, I finally was able to come up with a great vegan ricotta using whole blanched almonds. You can blanch them and remove the skins yourself, but nowadays, you can find them already blanched in the bulk section of grocery stores. What I feel makes almonds the best non-dairy ricotta base is that they are have less water than tofu, and less oil than cashews, so when you blend them, you end up with a much more curdy texture that is very similar to ricotta (curdy is a word, right?), as opposed to a perfectly smooth puree. Almonds are also cheaper than cashews, so yay! They’re also great for cooked and raw application, from savory stuffed shells and filled pastas, to sweet crepes and cannoli. The best part is that it is quick to make, as it only takes about 15 minutes to whip up, and makes about 1 cup.

Almond Ricotta Recipe (See below for savory and sweet add-ins)

1½ cups whole blanched almonds

¼ cup water, plus more for boiling

Place almonds in a small saucepan with enough water to cover by one inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, and boil for 10-15 minutes, or until the almonds look hydrated and slightly softened. Strain off the water, and immediately add the almonds to a blender or food processor, and add the ¼ cup of water, and blend for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until it looks smooth and curdy, but not completely pureed. You made need to add a splash more water.

During the pureeing process, add ½ cup of nutritional yeast & 1 tsp salt for savory ricotta, or 1 tbsp nutritional yeast and ¼ cup powdered sugar for sweet ricotta.

If adding the ricotta to a cooking process, it can be added to the recipe immediately. If adding it raw at the end of a dish, I recommend putting it in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl, and letting some of the liquid strain out for about 10 minutes.

This ricotta is great for so many dishes, as I’ve said mentioned so many times in this blog post. I’m starting to salivate as I type.

If you want to learn other recipes that include almond ricotta, don't miss The Chopping Block's Vegan Voyage: Italian Trattoria hands-on cooking class. We have two upcoming options:

• January 17th at Lincoln Square (just 2 spots left!)
• January 31st at the Merchandise Mart

This vegan cooking class will give you inspiration for a delicious hearty Italian feast that just happens to also be vegan.