Monday, April 21, 2008

Julie Hasson Veggie Sausage

All the other vegan food bloggers were making Julie Hasson's yummy vegan sausages, so I did too. Hey, I'd probably even jump off a bridge if someone else did first...nah, forget that. But I do give in to peer pressure when there's food involved.


After tasting the first bite at dinner tonight, I totally get what all the fuss is about. Move over Light Life Gimme Lean, there's a new sausage in town and I can make it from scratch in my own kitchen! The sausages are pretty easy - just mix ingredients together, wrap in aluminum foil, and steam for 30 minutes. I'm posting the recipe because it's already all over the Internet, and I'm sure many of you have already seen it or even tried these. By the way, does anyone know if the links freeze well?

Spicy Italian Vegetarian Sausages
Makes 8 links (note: I actually got 17 links out of this, but I made mine smaller)

2 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup chickpea flour
2 tbsp Bills Best Chik’Nish Seasoning (if using another brand which is salty, or saltier than Bill’s Best, you’ll want to greatly reduce the amount you use)
2 tbsp granulated onion
1 to 2 tbsp fennel seed, optional
2 tsp coarsely ground pepper, preferably freshly ground
2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp dried chili flakes, optional
1 tsp ground smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground allspice
2 1/4 cups cool water*
6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce

1. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Whisk together the water, garlic, olive oil and soy sauce and using a fork, gently stir into the dry ingredients. Stir just until ingredients are mixed. If dough mixture is too dry, you can add another tablespoon of water or as needed.
2. Scoop 1/2 cup dough mixture at a time and shape into logs. Place logs on piece of aluminum foil and roll up, twisting ends. Place sausages in steamer and steam for 30 minutes. Once sausages have cooled, remove from foil and refrigerate until ready to eat. After cooling, the sausages may feel a bit dry on the outside. Don’t worry, as they will soften and firm up considerably after chilling.

Variation: You can shape the dough into little patties instead of links. If you don’t want to use aluminum foil, you can wrap the links in damp muslin or tea towel and tie ends with cotton twine.

Copyright © 2008 Julie Hasson

On the side is Waldorf Wheat Berry Salad from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch:


I never had the meaty version of Waldorf salad, although I heard an argument about it on Top Chef recently. I believe it has chicken in it. But this veg version uses wheat berries, Fuji apple, dried cranberries, parsley, celery, red onion, and pecans! It was so light and springy. And I love the firm texture of wheat berries!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really want to try wheatberries! They look so yummy!

funwithyourfood said...

here's the thing, I just don't like sausage. I know I know. it's terrible, I've tried to like it and I suppose I'll try more to like it.
Btw, the dutchman's cake is adorable!! I make vegan treate ALL the time and give them to people without mentioning they're vegan... ppl never know the difference haha

Teddy

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

I love these little bitches & have 12 of them in my freezer right now! They freeze very well. I like to make mine a bit smaller, then cut them in to bites & grill them for a quick meal.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Haha yes, stick to ONLY giving in to "food peer pressure" - it's much less risky (and much more delicious!) ;0)

Wow, the 'sausages' look great!! And I'm COMPLETELY smitten with that Waldorf Wheat Berry Salad - sounds wonderful!

J said...

I adore wheatberries. They make an excellent fruit salad. They get so chewy and yummy when they are cooked. Mmmmmm.

Alicia said...

oh, yes, I still have to try to make those veggie sausages... I just have to buy the gluten but I keep delaying it! At least now I have an excuse, hehe, they'll have to wait until I can chew again :-)

Kumquat Peekapoo said...

Mmmmm, your's sounds much better than the variation I made.

Cindy Mc said...

Wow--that Waldorf Salad sounds way yummy. You'll be happy to know that I'm printing that recipe and I'm going to try it. Actually, the sausages sounds pretty good, too, so I might even try those one of these days. Don't get too excited, though--I still don't think I'll ever be able to go vegan!

Anonymous said...

that salad looks AMAZING!

Jan Scholl said...

Hey Bianca-thanks for stopping by! I made three flavors of this and by far the one getting the most raves is fennel with sun dried tomatoes. I also made rosemary/garlic and dill with garlic. Got any other ideas? I need one that is Korean, Thai or Indian flavors.

Anonymous said...

Everyone has been making those sausages, WHY haven't I? Yours look so good, I must make some soon!

Anonymous said...

I've made these too! Today I just made Isa's variation with pinto beans. Also delicious. Funny thing, I didn't like real sausage when I ate meat but I love these. My husband can't get enough of them so I'm making a huge batch and freezing them. I just cool them down and ziplock them and they freeze just fine. No texture changes or anything.

Papa Fink said...

Wow! I mean holy crap these are good. Just unwrapped them from the steamer and took a bite. Taste among the better hot Italian sausage I've ever had. I only modified by adding 2T of tomato paste, everything else the same other than the smoked. Paprika I used being very hot. Okay, I am on a mission to replicate nearly every variety. Of sausage I've had now. Thai, Indian, apple mint, sundries tomato, chorizo... Yum yum. Thanks to all for this recipe and tweaks.