I have been looking for a tasty and healthy gluten and lactose free veggie sausage for months now. (Most sausages are packed with wheat protein and/or breadcrumbs). I also wanted one that would hold its shape on a BBQ or in a frying pan and  be great for my favourite Banh Mi recipe. 

 The different ingredients come together and are then steamed wrapped in cling film for twenty minutes, then popped in the fridge for a couple of hours (if not overnight). The cling film is removed and they are then pan fried. It’s worth making a batch and freezing them in the cling film. Remove the film before cooking, but cook the sausages form frozen.

 You’ll need a steamer, PVC safe cling film and a food processor.

10g dried mushrooms

120g dried green lentils, rinsed

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, very finely chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

2 teasp finely chopped thyme

40g hazelnuts, blitzed to a powder

40g walnuts, blitzed to a powder

80g (gluten free) breadcrumbs 

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 egg, whisked

2 tsp (gluten free) soy sauce

1 teasp celery salt (optional) 

Salt and pepper

A few drops of lemon juice or yuzu

• Soak the dried mushrooms in very hot water for 15 minutes whilst you prepare all of the other ingredients. Drain the mushrooms – keep the liquid – then chop finely and set aside.

• Put the lentils along with the drained mushroom liquid into a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and cook for 20-25 minutes until soft. You may need to top the water up occasionally. The aim is to have soft lentils that have absorbed all of the liquid, which you can then  roughly mash at the end of the cooking time.

• Meanwhile,  gently fry the onions for 8 minutes until translucent, then add the chives and cook for a further 2 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

• In a large bowl, put the breadcrumbs, chopped dried mushrooms, mashed lentils, nuts, herbs, fried onion and mix well together. In a small bowl, whisk the egg , soy sauce and tomato puree together and add to the mix. Mix well again then add the celery salt and pepper. Check for flavour and add (more)soy sauce and lemon juice/yuzu  according to taste.

• Now the fun bit. Cut your cling film horizontally into 15 cm wide strips. Place 4-6  teaspoons  of the mixture in the middle  (depending on how large you want the sausage to be) and roll back and forth , ensuring that there aren’t any cracks in the sausage. Then roll up like a cracker, twisting the ends to seal. Repeat until all of the mixture is used up. 

• Steam for 20 minutes then place in the fridge for 2 hours. Remove the cling film then cook either by frying 3-4 minutes each side or on a BBQ.