I love Italian vegan sausages, and they are great to take on picnics. I pack and take them along with other lunch goodies on hikes in the forests where I like to roam with my hubby. But I cannot buy vegan sausages in Finland where I live at the moment. So, I did a search and found a great website: http://www.theppk.com

I will make them from the recipe below, and post an update on how they panned out.

1/2 cup cooked white beans (great northern or navy), rinsed and drained

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tablespoon olive oil *or* 1 tablespoon tomato paste (tomato paste is a great fat replacement)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon granulated garlic *or* 2 cloves fresh garlic, finely grated

1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed, crushed *or* 1 teaspoon ground fennel seed

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Several dashes fresh black pepper

Before mixing your ingredients, get the steaming apparatus ready, bringing water to a full boil. The rest of the recipe comes together very quickly.

Have ready 4 square sheets of tin foil. In a large bowl, mash the beans until no whole ones are left. Throw all the other ingredients together in the order listed and mix with a fork. Divide dough into 4 even parts (an easy way to do this: split the dough in half and then into quarters). Place one part of dough into tin foil and mold into about a 5 inch log. Wrap dough in tin foil, like a tootsie roll. Don’t worry too much about shaping it, it will snap into shape while it’s steaming because this recipe is awesome.

Place wrapped sausages in steamer and steam for 40 minutes. That’s it! You can unwrap and enjoy immediately or refrigerate until ready to use.