PINE NUT CREAM

This is a quick and easy recipe for an excellent cream substitute. Pine nuts tend to be one of the more overlooked nuts in the vegan faux dairy pantry. I suppose it has something to do with their price, but sometimes it’s worth it. Their delicate, subtly sweet flavor works wonderfully in sweet and savory dishes alike. I’m not sure I’d put this cream in my coffee, but I like to use it anywhere a coconut cream seems too sweet. It’s really great in pasta dishes like alfredo or vodka sauce. I often use it as a garnish to soups; it takes well to a butternut squash or a spring pea soup. And mashed potatoes are instantly transformed with a splash of this cream. Basically I like to use it anywhere that it’s going to stand out. Don’t bury this cream beneath a heap of nutritional yeast in a vegan mac and cheese. After all, pine nuts aren’t cheap!

Try my recipe for Rigatoni alla Vodka here.

Pine Nut Cream

Makes almost 2 cups
 

-1 cup pine nuts
-½ tsp lactic acid powder* or a squeeze of lemon
-filtered water

1.    Soak pine nuts in enough filtered water to cover for about 2 hours. Drain.

2.    Put soaked pine nuts and lactic acid (or lemon juice) into a blender. Blend on high, adding additional filtered water to achieve a cream like consistency. I find somewhere between ¼ and ½ cup water is about right.

*Lactic acid powder is available online. I like to use it because it adds a dairy-like acidity. But feel free to use a squeeze of lemon instead.