Smokey Vegan Chorizo

Difficulty: Easy-Medium

Makes 6 Sausages 

After much procrastination, I thought it was time to try my hand at my own vegan chorizo recipe. Gluten flour (or vital wheat gluten as it’s sometimes known) is the key ingredient here that gives this chorizo its meaty texture and you can adjust the amount of chilli and cayenne to suit the amount of bite you’re after. The final product has a great texture and can be used in a wide variety of recipes so stay tuned for plenty of ways to use these bitchin’ snags.

Note: Make sure your stock, tomato sauce and liquid smoke are soy free if you want soy free chorizo.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cooked kidney beans
• 1/3 cup vegetable stock
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
• 1 small brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon mixed herbs
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups gluten flour

Method

1. In a large bowl, mash up the kidney beans using a potato masher.
2. Add the stock, tomato sauce, olive oil, liquid smoke, onion, garlic, mixed herbs, spices and seasonings.
3. Throw in the gluten flour and knead until a good dough is formed. You’ll see the mixture is a little stringy, that’s the gluten flour doing its job!
4. Divide the dough into six equal parts and roll each piece into a sausage shape.
5. Tightly wrap in foil (like a Christmas cracker) and steam for 35 minutes.
6. Pan fry, grill or bake as per your favourite recipe.