Vegan Italian Sausage - Marcella

Yet another (modified) recipe from my favorite vegan brunch cookbook: Italian sausage. Yes, there's all kinds of commercial vegan sausage out there and it's delicious, but they do tend to have a lot of fat and sodium. Here, you can choose low-sodium soy sauce and reduce the olive oil even further if you like.

Sometimes I slice them up, sometimes I halve them lengthwise, pan-sear them and serve with sauerkraut and spicy mustard. They make a great side or topping for spaghetti squash with tomato sauce or a bit of whole wheat or gluten free pasta (it's pictured above on einkhorn pasta, the most ancient form of wheat).

And FYI, the wheat gluten you buy to make these can also be used to make seitan. You will need a steamer or steamer basket for a pot of some kind to cook these.

Vegan Italian Sausage
makes 4

• 1/2 cup white beans (cannellini, navy, or Great Northern), drained
  
• 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth
• 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (bulk and/or natural foods section)
• 2 tsp fennel seeds (ground or crushed)
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• black pepper
  

Mash up the white beans until there are no whole beans remaining. Add the rest of the ingredients in the listed order and mix well with a fork.


Tear off four sheets of aluminum foil, about 6 inches wide and lay them out. Divide your mix evenly among them. Shape each into about a 5-7 inch log and roll up in the foil, twisting the ends closed.

Place them in your steamer and steam for 30-40 minutes. Then slice, grill, eat as is, or save for later!