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| Avocado Linguine with Violife Parmesan |
For those of you who haven't heard of violife, it is the most wonderful dairy free cheese range made primarily from coconut oil by the Greek company Viotros. In my opinion, these cheeses are a game changer for vegan cheese and vegan food as a whole - the one thing people always say when you say you're vegan is that they could never give up cheese, now they can think again! Their violife cheeses are made free of dairy, lactose, soy & gluten, nuts, palm oil and preservatives and a registered product of the vegan society. Their cheeses are around 280Kcal /100g compared to a dairy cheese of around 400Kcal /100g, whilst having a cholesterol value of 2mg /100g of cheese - compared to cheddar with 105mg /100g. The whole range, including, bricks, blocks, slices and the creamy variety can be seen here on their website. To find a stockist in your country, click here.
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| Violife Cheeses |
Vitros have been kind enough to send me some samples of their latest creations to try out, all the way from Greece! I was sent vegan Parmesan and two varieties of their melty cheese for pizza - one original and one mozzarella, the cheeses were packaged well with ice packs so arrived chilled and in perfect condition! Later this week I will be trying out different recipes using their melty cheeses, reviewing and sharing new recipes - so subscribe to my site to get these cheesy recipes delivered to your inbox when published! My first taste of violife was earlier this year at vegfest, my two vegan friends and I were staying at a hostel and ended up eating their cheese slices in the evening when we got peckish - never before had I wanted to eat vegan cheese on it's own and I couldn't believe how cheese-like it tasted! Since then I have found out that their whole range is available in the UK with the main stockists being tesco, holland and barrett, waitrose, some asda stores and many independent health food shops - with different ranges available at each. Every time I buy their cheeses I end up eating them whilst I'm cooking with them - which is definitely a benefit of doing the cooking and an appreciation of how amazing this product is!
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| Parmesan Style Cheese |
I got delivered the cheeses today and I was absolutely dying to try at least one of them, I had an overripe avocado in the fridge, some tomatoes on the windowsill and packet of linguine in the cupboard, so I thought I'd make a simple and healthy Italian inspired meal for dinner and share it with you guys, along with my opinion of their prosociano parmesan flavour cheese! I finished off this gorgeous meal of avocado linguine with gratings of violife parmesan and there is only one word needed to describe it; wow. This cheese tastes like parmesan, looks like parmesan, has the texture of parmesan and even smells like it -how they did that I have no idea, but I'm beyond glad they did! After just one try I am seriously in love with this cheese and for those vegetarians who might struggle to find parmesan style cheese that's made without rennet, forget about trying to find dairy cheese and use this instead - I mean it, it's that good! Italian vegan food just went up to a whole new level using this cheese, the strong cheesy flavour used to finish off and perfectly season those classic Italian dishes can finally be recreated and as you can probably tell, I'm ecstatic about this!
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| Avocado Linguine |
Let me know your experiences with dairy free cheese and if you've yet to taste the wonders of violife by leaving a comment below!
The next recipe I made is super simple and quick and is a great example of how to use their cheese. It can be made in under 15 minutes & serves 2 people.
Avocado Linguine:
Ingredients:
- 150g linguine
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1 large ripe avocado
- Juice 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 fresh red chili, finely chopped
- 20 capers
- 10-15 baby tomatoes, halved
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley/ 1 tbsp chopped fresh
- Violife prosociano parmesan flavour cheese
- Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
- Black pepper
Method:
- Boil the pasta in slightly salted water until al dente - then drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
- Add the minced garlic to a frying pan on a medium heat with a tsp of cooking oil, fry for a minute or so, then add the capers, chilli, tomatoes and herbs and reduce the heat to low, stirring after a few minutes. Then, in a bowl mash the avocado with the lemon juice until completely smooth and add to the pan, stir through and turn the heat off.
- Add the linguine to the frying pan with a splash of the cooking water and toss together. Serve up with lots of grated parmesan, cracked black pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!
Cassidy xx
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| Avocado Linguine with Violife Parmesan |
