In the 1980s we fell off the vegan wagon into a pool of melty mozzarella on a pizza. More than once. We loved cheese. With Miyoko Schinner’s new book, Artisan Vegan Cheese, I’m happy to say that we are happily indulging once again.

For most of the cheeses, the first step is making rejuvelac. Before the book was out, I’d been browsing about Amazon and spotted some for sale. I had planned to order it right before the book came out, so I could make cheese right away. As it worked out, the rejuvelac vanished. I was intimidated by making my own. What to look for? How long should the sprouted tails be? How cloudy should I let it get? In truth, I’m still not sure I got it right, but if the proof is in the cheese, I did alright.

I started with the basic cashew cheese, which I divided into quarters to make several of the recipes. We liked the chevre and the sun-dried tomato and basil, but the star was easily the boursin. Somehow, I managed to misplace the photos from these. With this first round of recipes behind me, building my cheese-making confidence, I plunged into creating a variety of cheeses for the platter below. The rejuvelac can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. But once you get soaking those cashews, you’ll be hooked. Don’t fear the rejuvelac!

So far, I’ve tried: basic cashew cheese, cashew chevre, boursin, sun-dried tomato and basil cheese, brie, soft gruyere, hard gruyere, sharp cheddar, fresh mozzarella, air-dried gouda, air-dried cheddar, air-dried emmentaler, air-dried camembert,  meltable mozzarella, easy tofu ricotta, and the smoked provolone. The only recipe that gave me any problems was the fresh mozzarella. The taste was great, but my texture was off. Because all the other recipes were stunningly successful, I’m thinking it was something I did wrong. We’ve loved every other recipe.

 Since the texture was off on my fresh mozzarella, I mashed it into a tasty spread, spiked with garlic, basil, and sun-dried tomatoes.

I added a bit of sausage to Miyoko’s Stuffed Shell recipe because I had some leftover. The sauce on these is canned spicy marinara.

We absolutely flipped over the Fettucine Alfredo. I’m going to merge this recipe with my own for a bit of extra zing. Because I always add something green to my alfredo, I tossed a pound of spinach in the strainer before draining the noodles. Miyoko’s version is very close to my memory of alfredo.  Check out my recipe for it in American Vegan Kitchen, too.

 In keeping with my canning theme, these homemade ravioli were topped with canned marinara sauce.

Here are a couple things I’ve learned along the way that seem to work for me. I like to use mini spring form pans, lined with plastic wrap, for shaping the cheeses. They release from the plastic easily, and I can flip them right on a baking rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet. This way I can brush them with the wine/salt mixture for aging, and the extra just drips off. For more good news, most of the cheeses can be frozen. I’ve been cutting the small wheels into halves and wrapping them individually before freezing. Over the months to come, especially over the holidays, I’ll happily thaw a few kinds at a time so that we can have an almost-instant party plate.

As you can tell, I think you need this book! Want to take your chances at winning a copy? Leave a comment on this post about what you’d do with a knock-out vegan cheese! Random.org will pick the winner on 10/31 to celebrate the end of VeganMofo (and my sixth year of participation!).  Thank you to Book Pub Co. for supplying me with a contest copy. US shipping only (sorry!).  Be sure to visit Miyoko’s blog, too!

Please note: The contest is closed! Congratulations to Nicole, #29!