Vegan sausages, made from scratch
So, I, too, forgot to take photos for this, but for reasons that I will elaborate on below, they didn't exactly end up looking very appetising anyway. They were delicious, though!
My girlfriend got a new cookbook recently that had something like this recipe in it. It was so simple that I didn't even write it down. The short version is:
1x400g tin Cannellini Beans (although whatever you can get will probably work)
Combine ingredients in blender, put in fridge to chill for 3-4 hours (so the mixture firms up a bit), make into sausage shapes, and bake (in retrospect, how long and what temperature would have been a good thing to write down, but this isn't a soufflé we're talking about here. "Until they look done" will be fine).
Read on for exactly what I did; the problems I had with it and how I tried to solve them; and what I served them with:
2x400g tins Cannellini Beans (this made about 12 reasonably-sized sausages, to feed four people).
A lump of chili, how big will depend on how hot your chilies are/how hot you like things
Probably some other spices; my usual approach is to throw in whatever smells like it might be nice.
Chop the onion, garlic and chili a little so it's easier for the blender.
Throw everything in, and blend until it's smooth.
Put the mixture in the fridge for 3-4 hours, or if, like me, you make the mixture in the morning and realise you have nothing that would go with the sausages that night, and then go out to dinner with your dad the next night, 2-3 days. In theory this makes the mixture get firmer and easier to work, but:
The mixture is still really sticky and gooey, and very difficult to make into sausages. I stirred two big tablespoons of flour into it, which made almost no difference. I was eventually able to make sausages by rolling them on a very floury surface, adding more flour a good few times when the mixture started to stick. A big tablespoon of mixture rolled out into a good sausage size.
I put them on a greased baking tray and stuck them in the oven at 225 degrees (which was entirely arbitrary). The mixture was still really gooey, so they spread out and flattened in the oven. I flipped them, lowered the heat, and cooked them a bit longer. I really didn't pay attention to how long this took, but they didn't burn quickly at all, so just keep an eye on them. The good news is the mixture does eventually firm up in the oven, and the outsides go nice and crispy, so they're much easier to handle. And it didn't stick to the greased baking tray, which was a relief.
Frying or grilling them would have been a more sausage-y way to cook them, but they would have fallen apart completely. I'm not sure what would be the best way to make the mixture firmer (which, if nothing else, would make it a lot easier to work with it). Maybe a good bit more flour, or even some breadcrumbs might work!
With the sausages, I had:
Chop a large potato per person and then a few extra into as small chunks as you can be bothered (the smaller they are the faster they'll cook, but the longer you'll spend chopping. Swings and roundabouts!). Put them in a pot, cover them with boiling water, bring back to the boil, and boil until you poke a fork in them and they seem done (the good thing about mashed potato is it doesn't matter if they're a little overdone).
Drain them, put them back in the pot, and throw in a splash of (soya/rice/almond) milk and a big lump of butter (/fake butter/maybe olive oil and salt?) and mash them with a potato masher. Or if you don't have one you can use a fork, but good luck with that. If you have a big kitchen mixer you can put them in that after you get it started but I am not writing the sort of blog that assumes people have things.
Seriously, a lot of butter. Fuck your heart, you're doing this the proper Irish way. You are going to be putting more butter on them when they're served, too.
Most people would also add salt and pepper but I usually don't when I'm cooking, because I have a bad habit of adding it anyway when it's on the table.
I didn't do it this time but adding some wasabe to mashed potatoes is fucking amazing.
Also, I was a long way from being bothered to peel the potatoes but if you really want to make an effort, you should. Supposedly most of the nutrition is in the skins, but see above comment re: butter.
Proper mushy peas are made with marrowfat peas (which are starchy, not sweet) from a can, but I had this in a restaurant the other day and it was really nice.
I used about a full bag of frozen peas and it was barely enough for five people.
More butter (of whatever variety).
Boil the peas for however long the packet says (probably only a couple of minutes).
Drain them, then throw them in a blender with the mint and butter (or if, like me, you have one of those handheld blender things and not a normal blender, back in the pot).
Make the gravy from the packet because although for obvious reasons they don't like to advertise this fact, it is 100% vegan.
Unless it isn't, I'm talking about Bisto gravy here, but if that's not the default gravy where you are, check.
Or you could probably make gravy from scratch but give yourself a break, this meal is already a lot of effort. Also, I don't know how, so you're on your own.
Put the sausages, peas, and mashed potato on a plate, pour gravy over everything, and serve. You could also get some mustard for the sausages, but I didn't think of this until too late.
Despite the difficulties, and probably not turning out all that authentic in texture, the sausages turned out delicious! If I make them again, though, I will try to see if I can make the mixture firmer.
