Due to its proximity to March 14th (3/14), for Eugene Veggie Supper Club this month, I set our theme as PIE.  Pie beats out cake any day of the week, in my mind.  Cheesecake is a misnomer if I ever heard of one; so I dreamt up this recipe from a basic “normal” no-bake cheesecake recipe…

Pear, Bleu Cheese & Walnut
.

Mini-Cheesecakes (no-bake)

…

Ingredients:
makes about 12 to 14 mini-cheesecakes

• 12 mini-graham crusts (they come in 6-packs, or make your own small or large)
  —–
• 8 oz. cream cheese or neufchâtel
• 4 oz. bleu cheese crumbles
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 can of pears (in their own juice – not syrup) with about 1/2 of the juice from the canned pears
• 1 small (4 oz) container of diced pears (for blending)
  Dole makes snack-cup sized diced pears
• 8 oz. heavy whipping cream
  —–
• 1 small (4 oz) container of diced pears (for garnish)
• candied walnuts (for garnish)
• arugula (for garnish)

Steps:

1. Combine cheeses, sugar, juices, extracts, and pears into a food processor or blender.  Mix until smooth.
2. Add heavy whipping cream and mix until fluffy.
3. Scoop filling into crust(s) and chill for at least 3 hours.
4. Garnish with extra diced pears, walnuts & arugula right before serving.  Enjoy!

Prep time: 15-20 minutes, chill 3+ hours
Nutritional Info (per serving): With Crust: 280 calories, Fat 17g, Protein 4g. Without Crust: 170 cal, Fat 12g, Protein 3g.

This recipe is surprisingly easy to make.  You can make your own crust, candy your own walnuts, etc – but there’s definitely no dire need.  These cheesecakes could easily be make into a larger cheesecake as well (just use a bigger crust, the filling would be the same).  It’s a beautiful mix of savory and sweet.

This is a mainly music-based blog (in fact my Puscifer Portland 3/14 review is coming shortly after their show). If you stumbled in on a recipe search, check out my other recipes at THIS LINK.

Happy Pi(e) Day!

~Dan – np: Stabat Akish – Nebulos

The first thousand digits of Pi… π = 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862 0899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462
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