Ever since I saw Laura’s Savory Black Olive Seitan, I’ve been meaning to make seitan sausages with olives. When making seitan sausages, mine often come out a little bit too stiff and with a gummi-like texture. I’ve been working on this problem and I think I found the solution. I steam my sausages like Julie and I add legumes to them like Isa.

With these little tricks the sausages come out very tender. You can slice them up and fry them, you can crumble them, you can eat them straight away or on a slice of bread and tossed into a bowl of soup.

Olive and Chickpea Seitan Sausages (makes four logs)

Dry mixture:

120 g (3/4 cup plus 2 T) gluten powder (vital wheat gluten)
20 g (4 T) chickpea flour
25 g (1/4 cup) nutritional yeast
1 t smoked salt (or regular salt and a dash of liquid smoke)
1 t dried thyme
1 t dried rosemary
1 t dried oregano
1 t fennel seeds

Wet mixture:

90 g (1/2 cup) cooked chickpeas, mashed
240 ml (1 cup) water
2 T pesto Arrabiata (or whatever red pesto you have on hand)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t chipotle in adobo, minced
45 g (1/4 cup) chopped green olives
1 1/2 t paprika
pepper to taste

Put a steamer basket in a large pot, add a few inches of water and cover. Bring to a boil.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl and carefully pour them into the dry mixture. Mix with your hands until all ingredients are well incorporated. Divide into four parts.

Place each piece on a sheet of foil and wrap tightly. Place in your steamer and steam for 40-50 minutes. Remove from pot and let cool completely. Remove foil. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.