Homemade Pepperoni

Last week, while doing some research for this site, I came across Julie Hasson's cooking show site, Everyday Dish. While there, watching some of her shows, her recipe for Spicy Italian Vegetarian Sausages caught my attention. I'd been buying Yves and Tofurkey products, both slices and sausages, for quite some time for my work meals. Why not make my own, I thought.

I printed out the recipe and looked through my spices. I didn't have all the ingredients. So I got creative. I substituted durum atta for chickpea flour and Marmite yeast extract for Bill's Best Chik'Nish Seasoning (used only a teaspoon of Marmite for 2 tbsp Chik'Nish seasoning). It turned out wonderfully.

I put some diagonal slices through a few sausages, fried them a little, and took them to work. At work I sliced them up and gave two of my non-vegetarian coworkers a sausage each. They both loved it, asked further questions about it and requested the recipe. I directed them to Julie's site, of course.

Having so successfully made the spicy Italian sausages, I got to thinking about other types of sausages. I went online and, as difficult as it was for me to look at and read about all the meat sausages, learned a little about sausage making.

I decided, this time, to make a batch of vegan pepperoni. I found myself a recipe of spicy pepperoni at Tammy's Spicy Pepperoni, printed it and set out to combining the 'meat' of Julie's sausage recipe with the spices for Tammy's pepperoni. Since I didn't want to use aluminum foil for them, I decided to oil some cheesecloth and wrap them in those, twisting and tying the ends with twist ties before steaming.

Here's the recipe for my Spicy Vegan Pepperoni:

• 2 1/2 cups wheat gluten
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup durum atta flour
• 2 tsp liquid smoke
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp mustard powder
• 2 tsp fennel seed
• 1 whole dried cayenne pepper, crushed (or a tsp chili flakes)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp sugar 
• 2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp Marmite
• 2 1/2 cups cool water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.
2. In a separate bowl, mix cool water, Marmite, olive oil, and soy sauce.
3. Add liquid ingredients to dry and whisk, using a fork, until just mixed. Do not kneed. If too dry, add cool water, a tablespoon at a time (I have not found it necessary to add any water).
4. Divide dough into four or five equal portions, depending upon how large you want the pepperoni to be, and scoop each portion into a piece of oiled cheesecloth. Wrap cheesecloth around it, snuggly, forming a log shape. Then twist ends firmly and secure with twist ties.
5. Steam for about 35-40 minutes. Pepperoni will firm up nicely after cooling, ready for slicing. Makes five 200g pepperonis.

These are quite spicy. Those less accustomed to spicy food may wish to skip or reduce the amount of chili flakes. If you wish, you can also use aluminum foil for wrapping, or damp muslin.

Here are some more pictures:

Enjoy!