Guest guest Posted April 18, 2008 Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 >got an idea recently to try slicing them thicker and sauteeing for meatballs in spaghetti, etc. I¹ll let you know how that goes. Has anyone yet tried making meatballs in the steamer from either this recipe or another? I know these sausages get their firmness from being wrapped tightly in foil, more so than the recipe itself. One of the problems I have with all those vegan meatball recipes out there is that they're all soggy & mushy and don't hold their shape. Forget about trying to mix them into a pot of sauce - they crumble as soon as you touch them! I suspect these would do the same if the balls weren't cooked in foil, and I'm not about to cut dozens of pieces of foil and individually wrap each meatball. I'd love to find a nice *firm* vegan meatball substitute. And yes, I *am* tempted to make those matzos I sent to the list the other day and tossing them in the pot of sauce. All the stores have the crackers on sale about now so when I go shopping this week I'm thinking of picking up a box of whole wheat ones and giving it a try. The sausages *are* nice and really tasty, but sometimes a person just wants something different with their spaghetti. Sue in NJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 18, 2008 Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 No, I don’t make them into meatballs before cooking in the foil. I’m talking about making the individual sausages first, but after they are cooked I would cut them into thick chunks and use them like meatballs, either as is or sautéing them with some chopped bell pepper and onions and adding a nice fat-free sauce. I’ve not tried it over pasta yet, though I imagine it will be nice. I find this recipe produces a nice, firm sausage and it holds its shape when I later add the slices to soups and heat it up for lunch. I know the ones I’ve bought in the store don’t hold up too well to this, but this recipe does. Anna On 18/4/08 10:30 PM, " Sue in NJ " <sue_in_nj wrote: > got an idea recently to try slicing them thicker and sauteeing for meatballs > in spaghetti, etc. I’ll let you know how that goes. Has anyone yet tried making meatballs in the steamer from either this recipe or another? I know these sausages get their firmness from being wrapped tightly in foil, more so than the recipe itself. One of the problems I have with all those vegan meatball recipes out there is that they're all soggy & mushy and don't hold their shape. Forget about trying to mix them into a pot of sauce - they crumble as soon as you touch them! I suspect these would do the same if the balls weren't cooked in foil, and I'm not about to cut dozens of pieces of foil and individually wrap each meatball. I'd love to find a nice *firm* vegan meatball substitute. And yes, I *am* tempted to make those matzos I sent to the list the other day and tossing them in the pot of sauce. All the stores have the crackers on sale about now so when I go shopping this week I'm thinking of picking up a box of whole wheat ones and giving it a try. The sausages *are* nice and really tasty, but sometimes a person just wants something different with their spaghetti. Sue in NJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 18, 2008 Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 I think part of the reason for the firmness is the wrapping, another part is that they're steamed rather than boiled, and the final thing is the recipe. To be honest, I found Julie's recipe a little too firm for my taste. Terrible as it sounds, I missed the feeling of having pockets of fat in the sausages to provide a little variety to the texture. Of course, I wasn't about to add fat! I did consider adding cooked rice (or even grits!) to get that texture. So when I made my Irish sausage version, I did what real Irish sausage makers do and added bread crumbs (or rusk) to the gluten. The result was not quite as firm as the original recipe but still firm enough to hold together during a long cooking time in a stew. I think with the Italian seasonings, it'd made a great meatball substitute. I'd just cook it wrapped as sausages as usual and then cut it into meatball-sized slices, put them into spaghetti sauce, heat, and eat. You can see what I did at http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/03/dublin-coddle-with-vegan-irish-sausages.htm\ l . I wouldn't use that spice combination, though, because it's specific to Irish sausages (very mild flavor). Susan ------------- Susan Voisin FatFree Vegan Kitchen http://blog.fatfreevegan.com ------------- - " Sue in NJ " <sue_in_nj Friday, April 18, 2008 7:30 AM Re: Italian sausage/meatballs > >got an idea recently to try slicing them thicker and sauteeing for > meatballs > in spaghetti, etc. I¹ll let you know how that goes. > > Has anyone yet tried making meatballs in the steamer from either > this > recipe or another? > > I know these sausages get their firmness from being wrapped tightly > in > foil, more so than the recipe itself. One of the problems I have > with > all those vegan meatball recipes out there is that they're all soggy > & > mushy and don't hold their shape. Forget about trying to mix them > into a > pot of sauce - they crumble as soon as you touch them! I suspect > these > would do the same if the balls weren't cooked in foil, and I'm not > about > to cut dozens of pieces of foil and individually wrap each meatball. > > I'd love to find a nice *firm* vegan meatball substitute. And yes, I > *am* tempted to make those matzos I sent to the list the other day > and > tossing them in the pot of sauce. All the stores have the crackers > on > sale about now so when I go shopping this week I'm thinking of > picking > up a box of whole wheat ones and giving it a try. > > The sausages *are* nice and really tasty, but sometimes a person > just > wants something different with their spaghetti. > > > Sue in NJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 > I wouldn't use that spice combination, though, because it's specific > to Irish sausages (very mild flavor). I'm 50% Irish, my great-grand parents and 7 of their 8 children born in the old country, and my grand-father (the American-born) did a lot of what he called Irish cooking, and not once did I ever hear of " Irish sausages. " Then again, I never heard of apple sausages until I read a post on the Post Punk Kitchen forums. Thanks for the kink to your blog post about your sausages. I think I'll try those next. Sue in NJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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