Veggeroni (Seitan Pepperoni)
Okay, you wormed it out of me. I was going to make this again just to tweak the seasonings a little, but with so many of you writing to tell me that you just have to have the recipe now, I've decided to post it here and let you do the experimenting with it. (I've moved on to veggie bologna!)
But first a warning: I haven't had real pepperoni since before some of you were born, so I could be way off on the flavoring. Feel free to do the experimenting that I haven't had time for. If you've got a copy of Vegan Vittles, Joanne Stepaniak has a pepperoni version that I didn't see before creating this one and it might be better (though she probably hasn't had pepperoni any more recently than I have.) I have to say that I really liked how this came out, whether it tastes like the real thing or not.
And an apology to my gluten-free friends: There's not much you can do to convert a recipe that is gluten. I've thought about experimenting with marinated, baked tofu, but I haven't gotten around to that. If anyone tries it, please drop me a comment about how it turns out.
Veggeroni (Seitan Pepperoni)
(click for printer-friendly version)
(with thanks to Joanne Stepaniak, Lachesis, and all the other inventive cooks who've been wrapping their seitan in foil and baking it)
Dry ingredients:
1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (use more for spicier pepperoni)
3/4 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Wet ingredients:
2 tablespoons cashew butter (may substitute peanut butter or tahini)
2/3 cup water
4 tablespoons ketchup or tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1/4 teaspoon agave nectar (optional, but definitely use if you use tomato sauce)
Preheat oven to 325 F. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Put the cashew butter in a smaller bowl, and slowly mix in the water. Add the remaining wet ingredients to the small bowl and blend well.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry, stirring well (use your hands if necessary). Remove from the bowl and knead for a few minutes, making sure ingredients are distributed well.
Roll into a log shape, about 7 inches long. Place the log on foil and roll it up in the foil, twisting the ends to seal. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, turning over after 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and unwrap to cool. Slice as needed and store leftovers wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge.
Notes:
This fit perfectly in my toaster oven, so I didn't have to heat up the whole kitchen.
I sliced it and used it as-is on pizza, pita pizza, wraps, and sandwiches, but you may want to slice it and pan-fry it to give it more of a real pepperoni feel.
Makes 6-8 servings. Based on 8 servings: 202 Calories (kcal); 5g Total Fat; (21% calories from fat); 33g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 0g Cholesterol; 347mg Sodium; 2g Fiber.
Have fun with your big ole tube of veggeroni!
But first a warning: I haven't had real pepperoni since before some of you were born, so I could be way off on the flavoring. Feel free to do the experimenting that I haven't had time for. If you've got a copy of Vegan Vittles, Joanne Stepaniak has a pepperoni version that I didn't see before creating this one and it might be better (though she probably hasn't had pepperoni any more recently than I have.) I have to say that I really liked how this came out, whether it tastes like the real thing or not.
And an apology to my gluten-free friends: There's not much you can do to convert a recipe that is gluten. I've thought about experimenting with marinated, baked tofu, but I haven't gotten around to that. If anyone tries it, please drop me a comment about how it turns out.
Veggeroni (Seitan Pepperoni)
(click for printer-friendly version)
(with thanks to Joanne Stepaniak, Lachesis, and all the other inventive cooks who've been wrapping their seitan in foil and baking it)
Dry ingredients:
1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (use more for spicier pepperoni)
3/4 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Wet ingredients:
2 tablespoons cashew butter (may substitute peanut butter or tahini)
2/3 cup water
4 tablespoons ketchup or tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1/4 teaspoon agave nectar (optional, but definitely use if you use tomato sauce)
Preheat oven to 325 F. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Put the cashew butter in a smaller bowl, and slowly mix in the water. Add the remaining wet ingredients to the small bowl and blend well.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry, stirring well (use your hands if necessary). Remove from the bowl and knead for a few minutes, making sure ingredients are distributed well.
Roll into a log shape, about 7 inches long. Place the log on foil and roll it up in the foil, twisting the ends to seal. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, turning over after 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and unwrap to cool. Slice as needed and store leftovers wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge.
Notes:
This fit perfectly in my toaster oven, so I didn't have to heat up the whole kitchen.
I sliced it and used it as-is on pizza, pita pizza, wraps, and sandwiches, but you may want to slice it and pan-fry it to give it more of a real pepperoni feel.
Makes 6-8 servings. Based on 8 servings: 202 Calories (kcal); 5g Total Fat; (21% calories from fat); 33g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 0g Cholesterol; 347mg Sodium; 2g Fiber.
Have fun with your big ole tube of veggeroni!
Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free
Labels: higher-fat
posted by SusanV at 12:25 PM
40 Comments:
How can it have trace cholesterol when only animal products contain cholesterol?
I made Vegan Vittles Pastrami recipe this weekend with the same process as you did the pepperoni! Some tweeking needs to be just done for personal taste, but the process was extremely easy and not as messy as boiling the seitan...oh and extremely yummy.
But unlike you, I'm too lazy to blog about it :)
Orangie, I just checked and my recipe program is wrongly saying that Liquid Smoke has a trace of cholesterol. I've checked, and it uses no animal products and is completely vegan, so it's just a problem with the software. I'm going to correct the nutritional info now. Thanks for pointing it out.
Good-dees, it really is an easy way to make seitan, isn't it?
many thanks... :)
I just picked up a copy of Vegan Vittles. ONLY THE FIRST EDITION HAS THE RECIPE. The second edition, while yummy, DOES NOT HAVE THE RECIPE. Many sellers still have a copy of the now out-of-print first edition, since the second edition is so new. If you want it, better get it now.
I love how you can see the little specks of spices in there!
I'm SO trying that! Pepperoni is one of those things I've just been missing like crazy. It's such a special thing. Wohoo!
Susan, I'm so excited about this recipe. I was going to make it yesterday as soon as you posted it, but I don't have liquid smoke on hand. I'm going to get it and make veganroni today or tomorrow. I'll definitely let you know how it goes- thanks so much for this recipe!
Ooh, I just made the seitan o greatness recently, now I definitely have to try this! I'm just salivating over the combination of spices!
I am so glad you posted your recipe. Toaster oven idea is great for a single recipe.In alternative, make up several batches, perhaps flavoured differently, and freeze what's not immediately needed. I would love to see other flavours, such as breakfast sausage/Italian sausage, which I have been unable to perfect.
I didn't have fennel or liquid smoke but enjoyed it anyway.
I stumble upon your blog and I just want to say that your recipes really sound delicious especially with the photo on it. :)
iry
www.mydarkcirclesblog.com
Veggie bologna? Oh please please please post the recipe when you've got it... sad to say, bologna is one of the things I miss. I didn't eat it very often - maybe twice a year, but I liked to have it once in a while. I buy the tofurkey slices and the other deli "meats", and would love to make them myself.
Hi Susan! I'm British and I love your blog, I think you're just brilliant! We Brits have different words for different food products, cilantro is coriander, zuchinni's are courgettes blah blah. I just wanted to know, what do you mean when you say 'tomato sauce'- is this tomato puree? I think you have mentioned tomato PASTE in another recipe of yours!! So, If puree is paste, then what is SAUCE!!? I thought that was it was ketchup, but because you have given an option ketchup or sauce I know that its not...Help me, I'm confused and hungry. PS. In Britain you can't buy liquid smoke in the shops, can you think of an ingredient that would give the same flavour, or is it an indispensible ingredient? thanks :)
Hey thanks, vegan-o-rama! Sorry about the tomato confusion. I did a little checking, and this is what I managed to put together:
PASTE, to me= PUREE, to you. Definition: "Tomato paste, which is available in cans and tubes, consists of tomatoes that have been cooked for several hours, strained and reduced to a deep red, richly flavored concentrate."
In America, tomato PUREE consists of tomatoes that have been cooked briefly and strained, resulting in a thick liquid. Nothing is added.
Tomato SAUCE is a slightly thinner tomato purée. Seasonings and other flavorings are added so that it is ready to use in various dishes or as a base for other sauces.
KETCHUP is tomato-based, but vinegar is added to give it tang and sugar, salt, and spices contribute to the taste.
So, if you can't find tomato sauce or ketchup, for this recipe you could use tomato puree (which is the same as our paste). That won't work for all recipes, but since it's such a small part of this one, it will. For saucier recipes calling for tomato sauce, the standard substitution is 3 parts puree (American paste) to 4 parts water. And you may need to increase the seasonings.
I hope that's not as confusing as I fear it is!
As for the liquid smoke, I'm afraid the only vegetarian substitute I can think of is chipotle peppers, which add a lot of spiciness. If you can find chipotle pepper, you might use it and omit the red pepper flakes.
Or you could just leave it out. The "pepperoni" won't be as smoky without it, but it should still taste good.
You can get a smoked salt online or in gourmet shops. This should do the trick if you use it in place of the salt in this recipe. It is widely available online; here is a random source I pulled off a Google search: http://www.halenmon.co.uk/smoked.htm
oh yay!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe Susan!
I am super excited to try it out. I don't even know what I'll do with a whole log of veggieroni, but I'm excited to find out!
you could probably grind up fake bacon bits in a coffee grinder until a fine powder and mix it well with the dry ingredients. 1 tbsp of the powder would probably be enough. maybe less, maybe more.
I thought you may have meant PASSATA which is sieved tomatoes with no flavourings (which you've helpfully identified as being PUREE in American)! So, yes, thankyou for clearing this up for me! You meant like a shop bought pasta sauce :) - I have only ever come across dried chipotle peppers. Would these work?
cool, thanks for the tips fellow vegans- smoked salt sounds rather interesting, although I can get fake bacon bits at my local Tesco so I'll use that wherever it says to use liquid smoke- hooray! :)
great! thanks for the recipe. love the photo, looks so yummy.
Made this last night and it came out really nice. I couldnt find nutritional yeast and I think that would have made it even better, but I still think its as good or better than the store bought veggie bologna and much much cheaper!
Thanks!
Made this with my son in 10 minutes and it is great! Thanks so much, SusanV. This one is a keeper. I am going to put it on pizza and dazzle my omni sister and family later this week.
I am so in love with this seitan o' greatness recipe and I can't wait to try your seasonings. I've been experimenting with the seasonings myself. It's so simple and easy and versatile. The other day I made it into 4 smaller logs. When they were cooked, I sliced each log in half (lengthwise) and put one half onto a hot dog bun. It was a total throw back to my Wonder bread childhood.
This looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I'm definitely putting it on my to-make list.
Susan, great site and great recipe! Since the new year I've been doing low-fat/oil-free vegan eating as a health resolution. This turned out pretty good for me, but I couldn't get it as smooth as you did when rolling it into a cylinder.
Also, you mentioned a recipe program; what do you use and does it take into consideration the baking process and consequent loss of nutrients? Keep up the great works!
Sam, I use a program called MasterCook, which is a recipe filing system. I doubt it takes into consideration the loss of nutrients during cooking, but then again, it probably doesn't take into consideration that some nutrients are made more accessible during cooking, so perhaps it balances out in the end.
Thanks so much! I've used the Vittles version and loved it, but I like your version better! The smoke is a great idea.
I am baking mine now -thanks so much for posting the recipe. I plan to make pizza tomorrow night! My house smells so good right now!
Katie
To vegan-o-rama
You can actually get liquid smoke in the UK. Though in some areas it seems to be more around BBQ season, so your in luck now. Check out your local big Sainsbury's in the BBQ section and you should find it. I got the one called Old Dakota liquid smoke BBQ marinade. I use it to make my mock bacon. Good luck!
I LOVE this stuff! I bought some vegan pepperoni a while back, and it was the greasiest, chewiest crap ever! Your recipe, however, is perfect. Looks so authentic, too!
lol, i took a picture with it: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/bravecaspian/Photo198.jpg
I had made this recipe a while ago and froze it. I finally just now got to use it on some homemade pizza rolls. Just wanted to let you know I thought it was delicious, close enough to the real thing to satisfy my cravings. Thank you for sharing!
You can buy liquid smoke online in the uk if you live in the sticks like me! here is a link
http://www.barbecue-online.co.uk/acatalog/Figaro.html
Help! I know I am late to this discussion, but I am near-desperate to find out if anyone has tried baking this (or any version of the Recipe O' Greatness) in a snug-fitting, covered glass dish, WITHOUT the aluminum foil - and how it turned out. I haven't found anything helpful on the net. If nobody has tried it, does anyone have thoughts on how that may or may not work out? I ask this for both environmental and health reasons. Thanks! - Katie
Katie, I haven't tried this, but how about wrapping it snuggly in parchment paper and putting it on a glass baking dish? I'd make sure to roll it so that the parchment paper goes around it at least 3 times, to prevent it from tearing.
Thanks, Susan (for ALL that you share!!) - I am pretty limited in my baking knowledge... don't even own any parchment paper. Should the seitan still brown with it? I did make a mock-chicken version of Lachesis' recipe, with foil, and it was divine... but I just can't bear sticking with AL foil. I also saw a pic of a more loaf-like result on PPK, and the author said they didn't use foil... but didn't say what they did use - looks almost like a glass or metal loaf pan shape. I am not a member of that site, or I would ask them.. Still, you seem to be the kitchen goddess (and this is my fave food blog!), so I figure you'd know best! - thanks again - Katie
thanks so much for posting this recipe! i made it today, and it's delicious. perfect amount of spices, very tasty! :)
Just following up here for anyone else who wants to SKIP THE ALUMINUM FOIL... I opted to try something non-disposable that I already own, rather than buying parchment paper. My recipe is my own variation of the Seitan O' Greatness, but was approximately a triple batch of the one posted here. I placed the dough in a 9" non-stick loaf pan and inverted a larger rectangular glass dish for the lid. I actually made 2 triple recipes, using two pans/two flavors. My loaf pans are identical, but my glass dishes/lids are different sizes... The one that is approx. 9"x14" effectively contained the loaf fully in its pan, while the 8"x11" hadn't quite enough weight to fully contain its loaf during the baking (and/or because that loaf was a little drier than the other, it rose a little more?). Still, there's little difference in their cooled sizes and textures. Furthermore, I got a nice, thin, chewy "crust" this way, all around - better than with the foil, contrary to other folks' surmising! They both dumped well upon cooling 10-15 minutes and there was no oil whatsoever in either version. If the loaf shape works for you (great for sammiches), I highly recommend this earth-friendly and perhaps-healthier way of baking the yummy seitan! - Happy Baking! - Katie
That was very tasty! I wish I could have sliced it thinner. I made it and then made pizza to go with it. Thank you very much!
This was pretty deece. I put it on a pizza with cashew "cheese." Good stuff.
Just made it, doubling many of the spices (we like our food on the right end of the bell curve when it comes to spices.) I actually achieved "too spiciness," which is rare around here, but it is still so good that I couldn't wait for it to cool. :)
Glad I made a double batch and put the other log in the freezer!!
I added two tablespoons extra water (to the doubled recipe), halved the liquid smoke, played with the spices, subbed a half teaspoon of turbinado sugar for the quarter teaspoon of agave nectar, and added a tablespoon of olive oil. I made my logs about 10 inches long. The final result (well, the leftover half of one log, LOL) firmed up beautifully in the fridge overnight and can be sliced thin very easily. One batch of the recipe made about twice as much as I expected, and this is a great good thing.
Thanks, Susan!
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