Vegan Apple Sage Seitan Meatballs

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Vegan Apple Sage Seitan Meatballs

Calories: 331kcal

Author: Lisa Le

Ingredients

Simmering broth

8 cups 2 L water (or vegetable broth)
1 tbsp 15 mL vegetable broth paste (omit this if you're using vegetable broth)
2 onions peeled and quartered
3 carrots cut into 2 inch chunks
3 ribs celery cut into 2 inch chunks
1/4 cup 60 mL tamari
1 tsp 5 mL ground sage
1 tsp 5 mL whole black peppercorns

Meatballs

2/3 cup TVP texturized vegetable protein
2 small about 1 cup Ontario Empire apples (or your favourite local tart cooking apple)
1 tbsp 15 mL tamari
1 tsp marmite 5 mL (if you don't have this, you could also use dark miso)
1 tbsp 15 mL vegetable broth paste (or vegetable broth powder + 2 tsp little water)
2 tbsp 30 mL vegetable oil
1 tsp 5 mL ground sage
1 tsp 5 mL garlic powder
1 1/2 cups 210 g vital wheat gluten (gluten flour)

BBQ Sauce

2 medium onion finely diced
2 tbsp 30 mL vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp 5 mL garlic powder
1 tsp 5 mL onion powder
1/2 tsp 2.5 mL chili flakes
1 tsp 5 mL sage
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Ontario Empire Apples about 1 cup diced apples
2 cups 500 mL of the simmering broth (after meatballs have been cooked in it)

Instructions

Simmering Broth

Prepare the simmering broth by combining all ingredients in a large pot and let come to a boil. Lower to a steady simmer and cover. Cook for at least 30 min (up to 1 hour is good, but 30 min is fine). Remove large chunks of vegetables from the broth, and set aside to simmer the seitan.

Meatballs

Soak the TVP in boiling water to reconstitute for 10 minutes. Squeeze out the excess water and set aside.
Meanwhile, grate 2 small Empire apples to get about 1 cup of grated apple. Add the wet ingredients & spices (tamari, marmite, broth paste, vegetable oil, reconstituted TVP, and ground sage). Stir until everything is well incorporated.
Add the vital wheat gluten and knead until everything is incorporated. Try not to overknead because it'll be too tough. You'll lose some TVP bits in the process but it's okay. As long as you get most of it in the dough, it'll be fine.
Roll into 1 inch meatballs. If you want to maintain a better shape for the meatballs, I highly recommend baking for 20 minutes (at 350F) before putting into the simmering broth. It's not absolutely necessary, but it definitely improves the texture. In any case, simmer in the simmering broth for 40-60 min (40 if you did a prebake, 60 if you didn't bake). Try not to boil the seitan, just let it cook in a very gentle simmering broth. Once the meatballs are cooked through, strain the broth and reserve 2 cups for the BBQ sauce.
If you have the time, transfer the meatballs into an airtight container with about 1 cup of the simmering broth and let refrigerate overnight, or at least 4-6 hours.*
Meanwhile, prepare the BBQ sauce.

Apple BBQ Sauce

In a small saucepan cook onions in oil until browned, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Add garlic powder, onion powder, chili flakes and ground sage and stir to cook the spices (about 1 minute).
Add ketchup, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, diced apples and two cups of the strained simmering broth. Cook for about 20 minutes over medium low heat until everything is softened. Use a blender or immersion blender and blend until smooth.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a casserole dish, arrange meatballs into a single layer.
Pour BBQ sauce on top and bake for 25 minutes until bubbling. Remove from oven.
Optional: garnish with some fried sage (sage + vegan butter, fry the leaves until they're crisp).
Enjoy!

Notes

*Letting the seitan rest will help the seitan firm up and soak up more of the flavour, but I also baked it straight away afterwards, and it tasted fine too.

Nutrition