Vegetarian Sausage Substitute

The kids and I were craving a sausage pizza so I did a web search for a veggie recipe. Most recipes I could find were pretty minimalist with the spices so I merged several suggestions together. ZOWIE, it was good, like real sausage!

I didn’t measure my ingredients, so these are guesses and your sausage can be made with or without all or some of these ingredients, to taste. I wish there was a such thing as a vegetarian sausage casing but after doing a web search, such a thing doesn’t appear to exist. Still, this mix could make good patties. One web hit I read suggested letting it get cold before trying to form the patties. Gotta try dat.

Vegetarian Sausage from TVP or Seitan

makes approximate equivalent of 1 pound crumbled sausage

Mince or food process the following, then sauté in a medium hot pan:

• 1/2 onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• small wedge of ginger

When onions are clear, add any of the following, or a creative mix, and cook until whole seeds soften:

• 1/2 tsp ground fennel
• 1/2 tsp whole coriander seed
• 1/2 tsp whole mustard seed
• 1/2 tsp whole cumin
• red pepper seeds if you like it spicy

Mix the following together and add to the sautéd ingredients:

• 1 cup TVP or ground dry seitan (I food processed some leftover seitan that had not been stored in liquid)
• 2 egg whites or 2 teaspoons powdered egg white
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Allow to simmer until ingredients reach a thick sticky consistency and wala! you’ve got totally realistic sausage substitute! For real!