I’m a vegetarian, which means I don’t eat meat but dairy products, though I’m trying to cut the amount I consume. I often try vegan substitutes for cheese and yoghurt (I don’t drink milk anyway). After many trials, I now have a favourite vegan cheese: Violife Greek White.

This creamy smooth white cheese is so delicious that I can/want to eat it with anything and everything. I’m sure it can easily replace many other regular cheese options.

So I’ve been thinking of using it in a recipe for a while. Now I found the perfect combo: a vegan whipped “feta” using this Violife cheese and roasted aubergine, one of my favourite vegetables.

The recipe is straightforward, but you need time to roast the aubergine and cherry tomatoes. So you need to organise yourself well. Other than that, there is nothing particularly challenging with the recipe. So enjoy!
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Ingredients:

Difficulty: Easy
(Aubergine: serves 2, whipped feta serves 4*)

PDF-recipe (no photos)

For aubergine:
1 medium size aubergine (mine was about 400 gr)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp ground black pepper
100 gr cherry tomatoes, halved
a few teaspoons of vegan cheese**

For whipped feta:
200 gr vegan feta that you prefer*

200 gr vegan yoghurt**
2 cloves garlic, mashed
1.5 tbsp olive oil
pinch of black pepper
1/2 tsp chilli pepper flakes (you can skip or add more depending on how “hot” you want to make)

Toppings:
seeds from half a pomegranate
a handful of toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
fresh mint

*You don’t have to use all the whipped feta with the roasted aubergine – but you can if you want. If you have any whipped feta left, you can just consume it as a bread spread or dip.
**I used Violife Greek White as I wrote above. You can use your favourite feta-like vegan cheese.
***Again, I used the same vegan cheese here as well.
****I used Alpro Greek Style, which is high in protein, and low in sugar.

1. Preheat the oven to 200. Prepare an oven tray with baking paper.
2. Cut the aubergine in 2 lengthwise. Cut crosses in the aubergine’s flesh to make it easier to roast.

3. Brush the aubergine flesh generously with olive oil. Spread half the salt and pepper. Put in the middle part of the oven for 30 minutes first.

4. While the aubergine is roasting, add the remaining salt, pepper and olive oil to cherry tomatoes and mix well.

5. At 30 min mark, take the aubergine out of the oven (do not turn off the oven!). Put a few cherry tomatoes on the aubergine pieces and the remaining ones on the tray. Put a few spoons of vegan cheese on the aubergine pieces as well. Put the tray back in the middle section of the oven and roast for 10 more minutes.

6. Take the aubergine and tomatoes out of the oven. The cheese I used melted completely, and aubergine absorbed this melted cheese which gave it extra flavour. Let these cool while you prepare the rest.

7. Now, let’s make the whipped feta. Remember, you can make this beforehand; in this case, you can prepare the service as soon as the aubergine is out of the oven when everything is hot. To make the whipped feta, just put all the ingredients except chilli pepper flakes in a food processor and process until you get the texture you like.

8. Transfer the whipped feta to a small bowl. If you use chilli pepper flakes, add them to the dip and just mix with a spoon.

9. Now, let’s prepare the service. Take a spoonful of the whipped feta and spread it to a plate’s base. Put one piece of aubergine with the cherry tomatoes on top, and add more roasted cherry tomatoes to the plate. Spread pomegranate seeds, toasted almonds, and a few leaves of fresh mint. Also, add a small spoonful of whipped feta on top of the aubergine piece. Enjoy!