If there was one thing I missed when I quit dairy, it was topping my spaghetti with a nice hard Italian cheese. But thanks to the buttery and versatile cashew and that funky flake known as nutritional yeast, we can still experience that zing of fermented creaminess sprinkled copiously all over our mound of pasta.

The proportions given here are broken down to their smallest fractions so you can multiply quantity as needed. I usually do 3/4-1 cup at a time of the cashews. Obviously you’ll want to use enough so that they’ll pulse to a powder in your machine.

Ingredients

• Raw cashews or cashew pieces, 1/4 cup *
• Nutritional yeast, 1 T per 1/4 cup cashews
• Sea salt, 1/4 tsp per 1/4 cup cashews
• Garlic or onion powder, 1/8 tsp per 1/4 cup cashews

Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and pulse to a powder (don’t puree it to a butter). You can strain it through a sieve or sifter to remove any stray larger pieces (I tend to leave them). Use as you would grated parmesan.

*If you’re not allergic like me, you may want to try mixing in walnuts, or even go full walnut. The taste is distinctly nuttier, but good.