What would my childhood have been without Italian sausage? Less delicious, that is for certain. Italian sausage sandwiches loaded with red and green bell peppers, garlic and onions were a family staple. But how to reproduce that experience as a vegan? Through the magic of vital wheat gluten (along with fennel seeds and red wine). This is another recipe that I developed on my own and it satisfies all of the senses.
Seitan Italian Sausage
Makes 6 sausages
1 cup dry red wine
1 tsp. fennel seeds
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 peppercorns
vegetable broth, as needed
1 2/3 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup chickpea flour
3 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 tbsp. Bragg Liquid Amino
4 tbsp. tomato paste
6 garlic cloves, microplaned or finely minced
In a small saucepan, combine the wine, fennel seeds, garlic and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until slightly reduced. Remove from heat and pour into a 2-cup measuring cup. Add enough vegetable broth to bring the amount of liquid to 1 1/2 cups. Add the tomato paste and Bragg Liquid Aminos. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vital wheat gluten, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, oregano, onion flakes, garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Make a well in the center and pour in the wine mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms. Knead dough for 3-4 minutes, then set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F and tear off 8″ pieces of aluminum foil. Knead the dough again for 2 minutes, then cut into 6 equal pieces. Roll them into logs about 1″ thick and then one by one, place at the long of a piece of aluminum foil and wrap – not too tightly – but leaving just a little bit of room for expansion. When the pieces of dough are all wrapped, place them directly on the oven rack and bake for about 1 hour. Put them on a cooling rack and let rest for at least an hour. They’re ready to use, but will be of better texture if put into the refrigerator overnight.
Use just as you would “real” Italian sausage: in hoagies, on pizza, in pasta sauce or added to scrambled tofu.
Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve was a big deal in my childhood – and in many ways, much more special than Christmas Day. By 9:00 am on Christmas Day I always felt a little deflated, as if I’d caught just the tail-end of a raucous parade. But Christmas Eve was full of promise and anticipation: the decorated tree awash in delicate multi-colored light, the empty stockings at the fireplace, the plate of cookies waiting for Santa. And then there was the Christmas Eve dinner, a tradition created by my father with a nod to his Sicilian and Italian roots. He spent days in the kitchen preparing a rich tomato sauce with a variety of savory meats and seasonings; special cheeses were purchased from the Italian deli in downtown Cleveland and boxes of lasagna noodles were at the ready. My dad’s lasagna was a many-layered thing of beauty, dotted with fat green olives, thick rounds of sausage, crumbled hard-boiled eggs, creamy ricotta and tangy Parmesan. Cutting into that first pieces was like slicing into a wedding cake. We kids could not wait to dive in with our forks. But before the lasagna came out of the oven (dangerously hot), there were the artichokes. Stuffed to the point of bursting with Italian sausage, bread crumbs and copious amounts of Parmesan cheese (hand-grated by dad), they sat temptingly before us on our plates, leaves begging to be plucked and scraped clean of their bounty. The prize was at the bottom – the succulent heart of the ‘choke. Some of us slowly savored their artichokes and some of us, more impatient, tore through them like twisters roaming across Kansas.
Stuffed Artichokes Oliverio
Artichokes: