Vegan, healthy, easy and ever so tasty seitan roast.

I seem to be amazingly late onto the roasted seitan bandwagon… We used to make seitan all the time many years ago, but it was only ever the boiled version because it never occurred to me that it could be cooked any other way! Then I spotted this recipe and the veil was lifted from my jaded boiled seitan eyes. I adapted Evi’s recipe to make a simple loaf, which we’ll be serving for Christmas dinner with gravy and roast veggies.

Serves 6-8
Preparation: 10 minutes
Roasting: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 x 400g (14oz) can cannellini beans
3 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
1 Tbsp dried marjoram
1 tsp sweet paprika
250g (2 cups) wheat gluten
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast + pinch salt OR 1 tsp yeast extract (vegemite, marmite…)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
Freshly ground black pepper
250ml (1 cup) vegetable broth
Vegetable oil for greasing

Directions

Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F / Gas Mark 5, and oil a large sheet of aluminium foil – I folded two together.

Drain the cannellini beans and roughly chop the garlic and onion, then use a food processor to purée them together to a paste.

In a large bowl, combine the bean paste with the marjoram, paprika, nutritional yeast and salt or yeast extract, and tomato paste, and season generously with pepper. Add the wheat gluten and use your hands to combine everything, then add the vegetable broth and knead the mixture together into a soft, pliable dough.

Shape the dough into a log about 30cm (12″) long, and wrap tightly in foil, ensuring it is well sealed.

Place on a baking tray and roast in centre of oven for 80 minutes. To test, prod it with a wooden spoon – it should be firm but not hard.

Slice with a serrated knife and serve warm with roast vegetables and the gravy or sauce of your choice.

Can be made up to 3 days ahead, kept wrapped in the fridge and reheated in the oven at 175°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4 for about 20 minutes.

The leftovers are excellent sliced for sandwiches.