In Germany a roast is usually served for lunch on a Sunday. People over here eat their main meal at noon, while having something lighter for dinner. I have never had much interest in veganizing a huge brown chunk of meat, until I came across an onion crusted meat something on TV. The idea of slicing a roast into medallions and baking them with a mix of fried onions, mustard, and bread crumbs suddenly sounded delicious.  And it is perfect with baked potato wedges and garlic-thyme mushrooms.

This recipe is a little time-consuming, but if you prepare the seitan one day in advance, the rest will take less than an hour, while most of this time is inactive baking time. It’s for sure a perfect meal for a lazy Sunday when you feel like spending some time in the kitchen.

Sliced Roast

For the medallions, you will need half of the seitan recipe, which makes four slices. The potatoes and mushrooms will serve two people, so if you want to make this dish for four, prepare the double amount of potatoes and mushrooms.

Seitan (based on the ppk recipe)

dough:

1 1/2 cups  gluten powder (vital wheat gluten)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (20 g)
1 T onion powder
1 t lemon zest
2 t fresh thyme, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup cold vegetable broth
1/2 cup cold dry red wine

broth:
11 cups cold vegetable broth
1 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup red balsamic vinegar
2 T jerk sauce
1 T Worcester sauce
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme

To make the seitan dough, combine gluten powder, yeast flakes, onion powder, zest, thyme, garlic, and black pepper in a bowl. Mix well and  add vegetable broth and red wine. Knead until an elastic dough has formed and all ingredients are incorporated well. In a large stock pot, combine all ingredients for the broth. Slice seitan dough into two equal pieces and place in cold broth mix. Place on stove and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let seitan simmer for an hour.

Let seitan sit in the broth until completely cooled. I let it sit in the pot in a cool place over night. You will need some of the broth later in the recipe, so don’t discard it.

For the onion-crusted seitan medallions:

1 t olive oil
2 medium onions (about 250 g), diced
1/4 cup medium-hot yellow mustard or Dijon
3 T panko bread crumbs
1 T jerk sauce
1 t fresh thyme
ground black pepper and salt to taste

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add onions. Fry over medium heat until slightly brown. Deglaze with 1/4 cup of seitan broth and keep cooking until all the liquid is absorbed. In a bowl combine mustard, bread crumbs, jerk sauce, and thyme. Add onions and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease a baking dish with oil.
Slice one of the seitan pieces into four equal slices (2.5 cm [1 inch] thick). Place in baking dish and spread a generous amount of onion mix on top of each seitan piece. Set aside.

To make the potato wedges:

2 large potatoes, washed and patted dry
oil for brushing
salt, pepper, and paprika or chili powder for sprinkling

Slice potatoes into eight equal wedges each. Grease a second baking dish with oil. Place wedges in baking dish and spray or brush with oil. Sprinkle with spices and transfer to oven. Bake for twenty minutes.  Then place the seitan medallions in the oven as well and bake both potatoes and medallions for another twenty minutes.  Stir the potatoes from time to time. Add 1/4 cup of seitan broth to the medallions after the first ten minutes to deglaze.

To make the garlic-thyme mushrooms:

1 t olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
210 g (3 cups) sliced white mushrooms
2 t fresh thyme, chopped
salt, pepper to taste

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet and fry garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add mushrooms and thyme. Fry until the mushrooms are brown and crispy.

Remove seitan and potatoes from oven and assemble everything on a plate. Serve immediately.

Seitan roast served with baked potato wedges and mushrooms