Seitan Meatballs
Makes 30 Meatballs, Preparation Time 90 minutes
What is in a name? In the case of our Seitan Meatballs, some would ask, “What's not in a name?” Our Seitan Meatballs use the flesh of plants and no animal flesh. The usage of “meat” has taken on some controversy. Some people associate the word with the sale of animal meat products, believing the word “meat” should only be allowed in the association with animal products. The truth is the term meat historically is used to talk or write about the “flesh” of plants too, for example, “coconut meat”, “walnut meat”, “mincemeat” and so forth. Regardless, what the recipe or product label reads, it is wise to read the ingredient list.
As for our Seitan Meatballs, they simulate the taste and texture of the pork or beef meatballs our Mamma or Nonna used to make. A wonderful taste that does not have a secret, it is the garlic, oregano, basil, and fennel seeds, and not the meat itself!
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon fennel soaked in a tablespoon of hot water, and allowed time to cool and soften
- 1 cup of the white button or brown mushrooms chopped finely
- 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds
- 3 cloves of diced garlic
- 1 small onion, chopped finely
- ¼ cup of strained tomatoes
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- ½ teaspoon of dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon of dried basil
- ½ teaspoon of dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon of dried onion powder
- ½ teaspoon of dried granulated garlic
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black or white pepper
- Using a pot, add a tablespoon or two of water to cook the chopped onions, diced garlic, mushrooms and fennel seeds too. Do not let the ingredients dry out or burn. We want the onions and garlic to soften, and allow the mushroom to give up their savoury juices. At this point, we mix in the strained tomatoes making a savoury sauce, remove the pot from the stove and allow the sauce to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix all the remaining dry ingredients except for the vital wheat gluten. Let the sauce cool. Once the sauce has cooled, mix in the vital wheat gluten to the sauce to make a ball of dough. We want a firm but not powdery dough; therefore add water to achieve this end if needed. Once the dough is created, allow the dough to rest for at least a half-hour. Resting the dough allows the gluten protein time to form elastic binding strands.
- Line a double pot steamer or rice cooker with parchment paper. Using your hands, break off small pieces of the dough and roll them to form your Seitan Meatballs. If you are layering the Seitan Meatballs, use parchment paper to separate the layers to prevent the layers from sticking together. Cover your final layer with parchment paper and steam your Seitan Meatballs for 10 to 20 minutes.
- Once complete, allow them to cool before using them to make your final dish, like spaghetti and meatballs, Swedish meatballs, meatball sandwiches and so forth. Today, with our Seitan Meatballs, we made Sugo for our pasta.
We had a good discussion and a bit of fun discussing what to call our Seitan Meatballs. Should we use the word “meatless”? Should we add the words “no meat”, or avoid the word meat altogether like “The Great Balls of Seitan”? How about adding some chilli peppers or cyan pepper to the ingredient list in order to use to justify the name, “Great Balls of Fire!” In the end, we concluded, we want meatballs and are making our meatballs. Let other people call them what they want.
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