Italian Tofu Sausage Links

(Vegan, Gluten-Free)

As a follow-up to my previous recipe for Sage Tofu Sausage Links, I present my recipe for vegan, gluten-free, oat-free Italian sausage based on the original Sauce Stache video. Since Mark Thompson didn’t give actual measurements for the ingredient, I made my own semi-scientific best guesses, adjustments, and additions. It works out pretty darn well.

INGREDIENTS

• 14-16 ounces extra firm tofu, drained
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons mild flavored vegetable oil (e.g. canola oil)
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
• ½ teaspoon beet root powder
• ½ cup cooked brown rice
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon nutritional yeast
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon dried Italian parsley
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds, ground
• ¼ cup mung bean flour or chickpea flour
• 1½ teaspoons methylcellulose

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Smash the tofu with a potato masher or with your hands until it looks like wet crumbs. Mix in salt and vegetable oil.
3. Spread tofu out on parchment paper on a large baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Halfway through the baking, stir and flip tofu to break it into smaller pieces.
4. Once tofu has cooled, pulverize tofu and rice together into smaller crumbs in a food processor for 10-20 seconds.
5. Mix together soy sauce, red wine vinegar, tomato paste, olive oilk water, maple syrup, liquid smoke, beet root powder, and all spices.
6. Stir liquid ingredients into the tofu and rice mixture. Add bean flour and methylcellusose and stir to incorporate.
7. Cover mixture with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to full hydrate.
8. Divide mixture into six separate mounds of filling (slightly more than ¼ cup each) and press each mound into a log. Wrap each log tightly with aluminum foil, twisting the ends.
9. Steam logs in aluminum foil for 20-30 minutes.
10. Let cool completely before unwrapping.

Makes 6 sausages.

NOTES

1. Sausage links are ready to eat after steaming. They should be refrigerated if not eaten immediately, and they can be reheated by microwaving, browning in some oil in a pan, or grilling.
2. The beet root powder adds a nice red color to the mixture pre-steaming, but loses a lot of the color after steaming. If beet root powder is not available, it can be omitted from the recipe.
3. For a spicier sausage, double the amount of red pepper flakes.
4. For a good cooking hack, use parboiled or instant brown rice in the sausage. It cooks up faster, so you can make only what you need in half the time.