I’m a fairly nostalgic person in general but the holidays always ratchet it up a bit. It’s such a great time of year to spend with family and friends and think about old times, and of course eat and drink until you think you might explode. In my family, there’s no getting together without the latter. I mean coming off Thanksgiving weekend I thought I might be sick if I had to have one more glass of wine. Of course I had one like two days later because I literally can’t resist, but I didn’t enjoy it as much. Since the holidays are such a nostalgic time, it’s the best time to start recreating family recipes, and this Vegetarian Sausage Roll is one of my favorites.
This recipe specifically is one from Andrew’s family. Something I’ve learned dating Andrew, upstate New York is home to TONS of amazing recipes. When Andrew first told me about his mom’s sausage roll I pictured those mini puff pastry rolls (which I already love) but then he explained it fully and it sounded even better! Just a log of dough wrapped around greasy sausage, yum! I needed to find a way to make this vegetarian and I succeeded
This recipe is also very nostalgic for me because it is incredibly similar to these pizza rolls that we had special for lunch on Friday’s at my high school. They would get them from a pizza place called Sportsman’s and it was legit just a foot long pepperoni roll, wrapped in foil and sitting in its own grease. It was wild … horrible for you and super delicious. So when something was described to me that sounded similar, I was obviously all in.
This recipe is less greasy, being that there’s no actual meat involved, but the cheese add some good fattiness to it and the tempeh sausage is so flavorful, you’ll hardly miss the upset stomach from all that pepperoni grease. Not entirely, just hardly.
Now, I give you the recipe here to make your own dough, but you could make it a lot easier on yourself by buying premade dough. Of course then though you won’t get the sense of accomplishment that comes along with making your own dough. Whether or not it’s worth it, is entirely up to you.
This recipe is perfect for the holidays and I promise it will be a hit with your family! They might not even be able to tell the middle is meat. Now, between us I like to dip mine in ranch, but Andrew will not have such blasphemy in our house so I went with a classic marinara. For that, I DO recommend you make your own, it’s totally worth it.
Lots of Love,
Jackie
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Vegetarian “Sausage” Roll
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 1 roll 1x
- Category: Appetizer, Dinner
- Cuisine: Vegetarian, Vegan, Italian
Description
An amazing vegetarian holiday appetizer, Vegetarian sausage roll made with tempeh and loaded with herbs and spices.
Ingredients
Scale
- Tempeh Sausage
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 white onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 8oz package tempeh
- 2 tsp fennel seed
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup marinara sauce or tomato sauce
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 2 tsp rubbed sage
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp high heat oil
- 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 egg whisked (or 1 cup almond milk whisked with 1 tsp sugar for vegan egg wash)
- Dough
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 packet yeast
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
- Marinara Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 shallots, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp rubbed sage
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
Instructions
- Start by getting your dough ready. Add the flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl if you’re not using a stand mixer. In a separate small bowl, add the yeast into a 1/2 cup of warm water with a small pinch of sugar. Make sure the water is warm enough, it should be around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the yeast sit in the water for a few minutes until it starts to bubble. It will be a very light bubble on top.
- When the yeast start to bubble, create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the water yeast mixture, the remaining water, and the vegetable oil to the middle. If you’re using a mixer, you can use a dough hook, gradually increasing the speed until it forms a ball of dough. If it’s not coming together gradually add small amounts more flour until it forms a ball around the hook. You should be able to grab and remove it from the hook with slightly floured hands.
- If you’re using your hands, stir the dough with a spatula until it comes together into a sticky dough. Then powder your hands and a clean surface with flour and remove it from the bowl. Knead the dough together about 15 times using a pinch more dough when your hands start to stick. When it’s ready it will be a little sticky but you should be able to grab it and it will be soft.
- Place the dough back into a bowl and cover it with a damp tea towel. Place it in a warm, dark place to proof. I place mine on a shelf above the oven while I run the oven. Allow it to set until it doubles in size. This takes me about an hour but will take longer if you don’t have a good proofing area in your house.
- While the dough is proofing, prepare the sausage. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large, preferably cast iron, skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 3 minutes until the onions are translucent.
- Add the tempeh to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to get it broken up. Add the saute’d onions and garlic, fennel seed, Italian seasoning, nutritional yeast, marinara sauce, white pepper, rubbed sage and sea salt and pulse until smooth.
- Add the high heat cooking oil to the same skillet where you saute’d the onions and garlic. Transfer the tempeh mixture into a large bowl and oil your hand. Using you hand, school the mixture out about a 1/3 cup at a time and flatten it into patties. Drop the patties into the oil and cook until they’re browned on both sides, about 5-7 minutes on each side.
- Once the patties are browned on both sides, they will have hardened slightly, start breaking off corners of each patty with your spatula and continue breaking it up until it forms a crumbled texture in the pan. Add the soy sauce or tamari and dijon mustard to the mixture and continue stirring and breaking it up with the spatula. Cook for about 5 more minutes until the soy sauce has evaporated and the tempeh should be a dark color and resemble either ground meat or crumbled sausage pieces. Set the sausage aside.
- After the dough is done proofing, lightly flour a clean surface and place the proofed dough onto that surface. Lightly knead the dough a few more times then, using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to roughly a 9×12 inch rectangle.
- Spread egg wash across the inside of the dough. Spread the shredded cheese out across the inside the dough, leaving about 1 inch without cheese all the way around. Then sprinkle the sausage on top. Add more cheese on the top. Using a brush, brush egg wash across one long end of the dough. Then slowly roll the dough into one long log. When you get to the end, seal it by pressing it together and brushing the seal with egg wash.
- Line a baking sheet with cornmeal or flour. Set the log onto the baking sheet, you will likely have to bend it slightly for it to fit.
- Brush the whole top with egg wash and cover with aluminum foil. Bake covered for 30 minutes then uncover and bake for another 15.
- While the sausage roll is cooking, make the marinara sauce. Heat the oil in a small sauce pan and add the onions and garlic. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.
Notes
*If you are vegan, I highly recommend using vegan shredded mozzarella cheese. You need something cheesy on the inside.
* Use almond milk with some sugar for vegan egg wash
