Sausages… of the non-meat variety!

Sausages… of the non-meat variety!

I love these so much I’ve made them twice in a week! I still can’t decide though if I like them better hot or cold! 😛 I’m glad I’ve got some ready made in the fridge because my cooker… well, my cooker is waiting for an engineer! These are such a handy food to have about – very versatile as they can easily be used to fit any meal: breakfast with some hash browns, tomatoes, and mushrooms; lunch stuffed in a sandwich with some houmous, rocket and cucumber; dinner with fresh vegetables and potatoes; buffet on sticks with a creamy dipping sauce; snacks just as they are straight from the fridge! Oh I love it when there’s something around like this! 😀 Especially when you don’t know which meal it will be by the time the engineer finally turns up!

 

Back to my oven! It’s not that it’s broken as I made a batch of chocolate studded cookies this morning – allowing enough time for the oven to cool down before my allocated engineer slot! It’s just that it has a mind of its own! The door opens anytime it likes mid cooking – which is perfectly fine for these sausages, but not so good if making a yummy cake! Then the temperature goes up and down, either up much higher than it’s set, or not even reaching the set temperature on the top shelf. The top oven doesn’t stay lit on its own and you have to constantly open the door to see if it is actually alight or if the gas is just circulating round and round (maybe there’s an automatic cut off?) The heat comes out a LOT too – you could probably cook in the top oven without it even being on anyway! And, as if that wasn’t enough… there is water, yes water and a LOT of it (well condensation I’m assuming) everywhere! I mean on the oven door, on the seal, on the glass panel, on the floor, just all around the cooker really!

Ooo… the engineer is just pulling up…

You have a look at the recipe and I’ll go sort the cooker! 😀

[recipe title=”Sausages (Vegan & Free-From)” servings=”12-16 sausages” time=”25-35 mins” difficulty=”medium”]

Gather

• Coconut oil
• 1 medium -large red onion
• 4-5 large chestnut mushrooms
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 180g precooked chestnuts
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• Pinch of red chili seeds
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 250ml-350ml cold water
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons roasted sunflower seeds
• Small handful of whole roasted hazelnuts
• 2-3 handfuls porridge oats (gluten free if required)

Prepare

1. Melt the oil and cook the onions until just turning golden. Add the mushrooms and cook until both vegetables are brown.
2. Add the garlic and chestnuts and cook for a further two minutes.
3. Stir in the tomato puree and nutritional yeast, followed by the herbs, paprika, cumin, chili and pepper. Cook for a minute then turn off the heat.
4. Transfer to a blender or food processor and add the water. Blend until you have a rough paste – it should be quite smooth but still have chunky pieces for texture.
5. Taste and add salt as necessary, then roughly blend in the sunflower seeds (you don’t want them chopped, just blended in).
6. Transfer to a bowl and mix the hazelnuts in.
7. A handful at a time, add the oats and mix in. You are looking for a loose texture which holds together.
8. Leave the mix for 5-10 minutes to firm up a bit whilst you tidy up and get a frying pan ready.
9. Take a small handful and form into a sausage shape. Shallow fry on all sides then remove onto a baking tray. Repeat.
10. Bake at Gas mark 5 (375f  /190c) for 10-20 minutes.
11. Enjoy.

Serve & Store

• Serve hot from the oven as a main meal with some fresh vegetables.
• Store refrigerated for up to five days.
• Eat straight from the fridge.
• Dip in houmous with some salad on the side.
• Slice (or not) and use as a sandwich filling – try these pitta breads.
• Change the shape and make burgers instead.
• Switch the seeds for pumpkin seeds and the nuts for almonds.
• Add more spice, or less spice, turmeric, coriander and curry perhaps.
• Can be frozen (sealed) for up to three months once chilled.

[/recipe]