Vegan Chorizo Sausages

November is special in many ways. Of course, there is Remembrance Day. For some, it is a month to grow a moustache in support of raising funds for prostate cancer research (aka Movember). For others, it is a celebration of vegan food through almost daily blogging (aka Vegan MoFo).

I am neither a vegan, nor a vegetarian, nor do I plan to write 20-30 posts this month about vegan food. In fact, most of my vegan recipes are serendipitous as I search out healthy recipes.  But I figured I’d pay homage to Vegan MoFo by posting vegan-friendly dishes all month. So far, so good (and I bet you may not have noticed they were vegan!).

In fact, I wanted to take things a bit further by going where few non-vegans have gone before: making vegan “meat”.

Yes, I made my own homemade sausages… without any meat!

And it was fun!

Adapted from Viva Vegan, you mix and knead together vital wheat gluten and some chickpea flour with some vegetable broth and olive oil and a ton of flavourings: tomato paste, garlic, cumin, coriander, Mexican oregano, chili flakes, smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, and if you like it hotter throw in some cayenne and peppercorns.

I am not particularly familiar with chorizo, so I can’t say how close these are to the real deal. They were a bit soft right out of the oven but firmed up slightly after sitting in the refrigerator overnight. They were scrumptious, though! Little dumplings bursting with flavour. Nearly entirely filled with protein, at that.

I added them to the Brazilian Potato-Kale Soup and it definitely brought it to the next level. I was fishing out the chorizo for each bite. It was delectable.

Bring on the homemade (vegan) sausages! 😀

This is my submission to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Chorizo Seitan Sausages

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
4 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
6 cloves garlic, grated
1 2/3 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup chickpea flour
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
4 tsp smoked sweet paprika
2 tsp Aleppo chili flakes
3 tsp Mexican oregano (regular oregano is fine, too)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (omitted)

1. Tear off six pieces of foil 8 inches wide each. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the broth, tomato paste, oil, vinegar and garlic. In a large bowl, combine the wheat gluten, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, paprika, chili flakes, oregano, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and form a well in the center. Pour the liquid ingredients into the well and stir with a rubber spatula until the dough leaves the side of the bowl. Knead the dough for 3 minutes to develop the gluten. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Knead again for 2 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Place a piece on each piece of foil and shape it into a log 6 inches long. Wrap the log on its long axis first, then twist the edges the keep everything inside. Wrap firmly but not too tight (apparently these can explode while baking!). Repeat for all pieces.

4.  Place each directly on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Cool for 40 minutes before using,  or overnight for best results. Can keep refrigerated for 2 weeks or be frozen.

Makes 6 sausages.