A Glamorgan sausage is a traditional Welsh sausage, with the main ingredients being leek and cheese. So I thought this should be an obvious candidate to be veganized. But I must admit, the Glamorgan sausages I had in my pre-vegan days were a bit on the boring side, so I decided to liven my version up a bit. I was inspired by the ‘devils on horseback’ recipe, which is usually prunes or dates wrapped in bacon, and I thought that some smoked eggplant/aubergine would nicely substitute for bacon – and the result was . . . Fantastic ! My 7 year old, who is notoriously selective when it comes to vegan food, was completely sold on them. So here they are . . . .
INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUSAGES
100g sunflower seeds (lightly toasted)
1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
1 small leek, roughly chopped
1½ Tbsp nutritional yeast
¼ tsp garlic granules
1 tsp teriyaki sauce
3 halved sun dried tomatoes
12 white button mushrooms (tails off), minced in your food processor and set aside
salt to taste
3 to 4 Tbsp buckwheat flour (and extra for dusting)
4 Tbsp cilantro (coriander), finely chopped
a pinch of thyme & sage
METHOD
- Gently fry your mushrooms until their juices are released, then stir until the juices have evaporated, so that you have slightly juicy mushrooms but without liquid in the pan, having retained all the flavours.
- Now place all your sunflower seeds in your food processor and process, then remove them into a bowl.
- Next, process your sun dried tomatoes, give them a blitz, and then process the onions and leek, taking care to scraping down the edges of the bowl into the centre.
- Now add the sunflower mix to the onion mix, add the mushrooms and the remaining ingredients, and blitz for a few seconds – don’t over process, this step is just so you can incorporate the ingredients together, not to process further, otherwise your mixture won’t thicken properly.
- You should be left with a semi thickish ball. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
- Then lightly flour a surface with the buckwheat, take a large tablespoon of the mixture, roll into a ball, and on your floured surface shape lightly into the shape of a medium to small sausage – do this with them all. Handle with care.
- Now it’s time to roll them.
SMOKED EGGLANT/AUBERGINE AND MAPLE BACON SLICES
(for wrapping around the sausages)
INGREDIENTS FOR THE SMOKED EGGPLANT BACON
1 large eggplant/aubergine, sliced into thinnish slices
Then here is the marinade :
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika (available in the US from here, and in the UK from here)
½ tsp smoked salt (US here, UK here)
2 Tbsp maple syrup
METHOD
- Place the marinade ingredients in a small cup, and stir very well. Then pour the mixture onto a flat plate, dip each slice of eggplant on both sides into this mixture, and place in a dish. Do the same to all your eggplant slices, then cover and marinate in the fridge for a hour or so.
- Now fry each piece in a skillet pan, with the grooves of the pan running parallel with the length of the eggplant slice, so that it leaves lines on the eggplant – in this way it emulates a bacon slice. Turn them over gently when marked and cooked (but don’t overcook them).
- Pre-heat your oven to 300ºF (150ºC). Allow the ‘bacon’ slices to cool, then wrap around the centre of the sausages, and place in a pre-greased oven dish. Now bake in the oven for 20 minutes or a little longer. Then serve with mustard, and a healthy salad with tasty dressing. Enjoy !
All recipes and content © Miriam Sorrell www.mouthwateringvegan.com 2010
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These look incredible and not too complicated, I can’t wait to try them.
Wow – going to be trying this. Have done raw eggplant bacon before but this looks way better. If I can’t get buckwheat flour what is a good alternative and any advice on a gluten free variety?
These look delicious! I’d been thinking of ways to veganize pigs in blankets for my christmas dinner but didn’t get a chance to try anything out so I’m excited to give these a go! Thanks
Hope you enjoy them Amy !
Hi Yvonne, tapioca flour would be great if you can get hold of it. Enjoy ! 🙂
Natasha Hi, hope you enjoy them – let me know how they go ! 🙂
Oh my taste buds are in heaven! Made these in our coffee house today and can’t believe the depth of flavour. I could not find tapioca flour so I used polenta and this worked a treat.
They were taste tested by meat eaters and vegans today – the results were very positive. And our gluten free vegan/vegetarian customers are going to be delighted!
Thank you once again 🙂
Hi Yvonne, so glad they were enjoyed – they’re a great treat – please give ‘Mouthwatering Vegan Recipes’ a mention since we created the recipe – maybe a small edit to your FB post would do the trick. 🙂
I am in the midst of making this recipe. It would be nice to know about how much the mushrooms should weigh, since I have small and larger ones. Or, perhaps, it really doesn’t matter. Thanks.
Hi Janet, I would say around an inch and a half in size or a tiny bit smaller in terms of size. There are no rigid rules about them, so it doesn’t matter – and fry them in a little olive oil (heat the oil 1st then put the chopped mushrooms in to fry them). Let me know how they go and best your way in the meantime ! 🙂
These look fantastic I will be trying them very soon. Thank you for a fabulous recipe. At last vegan food is becoming imaginative, tasty and healthy.
Michelle Hi there and thanks for dropping by here. Let me know how this goes and please ‘like’ our new FB page ‘Mouthwatering Vegan 2 Healthy Options’ so that you don’t miss out on the notifications of our healthy recipes – here is the link for you :-https://www.facebook.com/MouthwateringVegan2?ref=hl Best your way in the meantime ! 🙂
I made these “sausages” today and they were so delicious, the bit of crunchiness from the seeds and the combination of flavors were great. I’ll make them again and again! Everybody in my family liked them. Thank you for your inspiring recipes!
Hi there Veronica, so glad you made these sausages and that they were a hit – it’s the same at this end, we love the flavours and textures and it’s one of those ‘keep making’ recipes to return to. I very much look forward to your future comments on my blog and enjoy ! 🙂
I’m struggling to find leeks. Is there anything you’d recommend as a substitute?
You can try spring onions if you wish Natasha. 🙂
Miriam, when you say: place all your sunflower seeds in your food processor and “process” –
what texture from the processing do I need, eg. a flour, a fine seedy texture, or some chunky bits of seed? Thx 🙂
Hi Raewyn, you will need a seedy texture with the odd chunky bit. Let me know how it goes. Cheers !