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!