Vegan Roast Turkey-style Joint

It’s that time of the year again! As the weather gets much colder, we look forward to crowding around a dinner table and tucking into a comforting home-cooked roast. For those that follow vegan, plant-based or vegetarian diets, meat alternatives can typically either be expensive or pretty lacklustre. We have the perfect recipe for a vegan roast that is guaranteed to impress even those with carnivorous appetites.

Perfect for Easy Vegan Roast Dinners and Sandwich Slices!

Cooking a delicious vegan roast doesn’t have to be difficult - this is a simple recipe that is easy to follow and provides a really tasty and bountiful feast. Not only this, if you find yourself not able to eat it all – and this doesn’t happen very often – the roast can be used later as sandwich slices.

Ingredients

Wet Mix

• 100ml Warm Water
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce or Tamari
• ½ tsp Vegan Worcestershire Sauce

Dry Mix

• 3 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Dried Sage
• ¼ tsp Smoked Salt
• ½ tsp Dried Thyme
• 100g Tinned Cannellini Beans (drained and rinsed)
• 200g Vital Wheat Gluten Flour 

Basting Mix

• 300ml Vegetable Stock
• 1 tbsp Maple or Agave Syrup
• 2 tsp Ground Peppercorns
• A generous splash of lemon juice

Method

Begin by mixing all the wet mix ingredients in a food processor or blender. Add all of the dry ingredients - apart from the beans and vital wheat gluten -   one by one to the wet mix and blend. Now add the cannellini beans to the wet mix and blend until these are completely smooth.

Transfer this mix to a mixing bowl and begin to mix in the vital wheat gluten slowly. Mix well until the dough comes together. Sprinkle some wheat gluten onto a surface and knead a few times until you have a large, oval-shaped dough. The dough will still be slightly wet but this is normal.   

Lay out on some tin foil and wrap tightly, sealing tightly on the ends. Now steam for 1 hour. Make sure to check the water levels as sometimes this can dry out.

45 minutes into steaming, preheat your oven to 180C. Once it has finished steaming, place the foil-wrapped seitan into the oven and cook for 25 minutes, basting regularly and thoroughly – 3 or 4 times - with a brush.  Remove from the oven and slice the seitan to serve. If used for sandwiches, the roast can be sliced and eaten cold.

Recipe and Photography: Lee Nottle