Homemade Mediterranean Veggie Sausages

It’s definitely comfort food time of year; it seems dark most of the time and a bit of warming traditional food is the perfect way to keep the spirits up. Vegetarian sausages can be a great way to have a traditional meal but with a veggie twist – there are a few good varieties but some of the ones you buy can be either unpleasant tasting and trying to be like fake meat (as a veggie, I HATE fake meat) or bland spongy things which are best avoided. Time to create a homemade version!

The Food for Friends (a veggie restaurant based in Brighton) cookbook has a couple of interesting veggie sausage recipes which are definitely worth trying, they are good, but maybe not quite to my taste. So, these are my version;  flavoured with the Mediterranean in mind, using the delicious combo of rocket, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and balsamic vinegar  – and my, they are lovely! Be warned, the mixture is quite crumbly so it’s definitely worth chilling them in the fridge for a good while before frying. But the resulting mixture is so punchy with umami flavours that we find we can forgive a bit of crumble!

Homemade Mediterranean Veggie Sausages 

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, vegetarian, and vegan)

For 2 sausages, perfect for one person – multiple the amounts for more people

• 1 slice of wholemeal bread, made into breadcrumbs
• 4 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
• 1-2 tbp of the oil the sun-dried tomatoes came in
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large handful rocket or spinach
• small bunch of basil
• seasoning

1. Best to use a food processor, blend the bread to make fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add the tomatoes, balsamic, rocket, basil and garlic and blend to combine. It should look like the texture of green sand
3. Taste and adjust the seasoning
4. Tip out onto a sheet of cling film, shape into a large sausage shape and roll tightly. Chill well.
5. Unwrap and cut into two. Fry in sunflower oil until golden on all sides