Homemade chickpea sausages wrapped in sun-dried tomato blankets. The perfect Christmas treat or why not include on a buffet all year round for a tasty vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free option?
Christmas is well and truly knocking on the door with less than a week to go. Are you feeling prepared? I have finally finished off my Christmas shopping and am counting down the days until work is over and the festivities can begin.
Pigs in blankets are a Christmas staple, either to accompany dinner on the day or for a festive buffet, so it makes perfect sense to have a meat-free version on the table too. These vegan pigs in blankets use homemade chickpea sausages but could just as easily be made with shop-bought veggie sausages or with a packet of sausmix to save time.
Linda McCartney sausages are a good, widely available vegan option and Granose Meat Free Lincolnshire Sausage Mix is ideal being dairy- and egg-free; do bear in mind neither of these are gluten-free though if that is also a requirement.
Once the sausages using this recipe are cooked in the oven the outside does become a little cracked but fear not the inside is still moist – I think could be overcome by brushing a little oil on the sausages before baking but of course they will be healthier without, just a little less pretty!
Makes approx. 12
Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 red onion
5 mushrooms
75g gram (chickpea) flour, extra to coat
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp paprika
1 sprig fresh rosemary
12 sun-dried tomatoes (ideally in oil – if not, coat in oil of your choice before cooking)
You will also need: cocktail sticks, tin foil cut into roughly 15cm x 15cm pieces
Method:
1. Add all of the ingredients, bar the sun-dried tomatoes, into a food processor and blend into a thick, sticky paste.
2. Separate the sausage mixture into small handfuls and roll each into a sausage shape – the mixture is fairly hard to handle so don’t worry about them being perfect at this stage. Put the extra chickpea flour onto a plate and gently coat the sausage by gently dipping into the flour. Place on a tin foil square and roll up – this will neaten up the sausage shape – and twist the ends securely. Repeat for each sausage.
3. Steam the foil-coated sausages for fifteen minutes until they have become firm and cooked through. You can do this in a steamer or, as I did, in a colander placed in a large pan with a little water. Whilst they are steaming, preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.
4. Once the steamed sausages to cool enough to handle, carefully unwrap from the foil. Flatten out the sun-dried tomatoes and wrap one around each sausage.
5. Place the wrapped sausages on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for around ten minutes or until the tomatoes and the edges of the sausages have crisped. Secure each one with a cocktail stick and transfer to a plate ready to serve.
What will be on your Christmas table this year?