What We Ate Wednesday-- Oat and Sunflower Seed "Sausage" Patties Three Ways (With mash and gravy, with quiche and grits and on a pizza)

 Hello lovelies! I know  a lot of vegans don't like mock meats, but we really like these. Basically, they use sausage spices and are shaped into patties and baked. They are not trying to imitate sausage, but just give you an easy, delicious  food to throw together with some side dishes. I make them small, but you could make them bigger and use as them as a "burger" on a roll. 

Their size and shape remind me of Jimmy Dean sausage patties I ate at as a child, but without those weird bits of gristle that used to make me feel sick. I try not to think too hard about what sort of body parts ("Lips and butts!" according a friend's child) were in cheap commercial sausage. 

That's why these are so good--lovely, savoury taste and no lips and butts! 

They are easily made gluten free by using GF oats and tamari instead of soy sauce. They also freeze and defrost well. It makes approximately 28 little patties which feed us for 4 meals. Just pan fry in a smidge of oil to reheat. 

I have to cook it in 2 shifts in my oven as there is not room to cook both pans at once. Besides, I have never  had much success with cooking two things at once. One is always burned and the other is underdone, even when I rotate pans. It does mean that the cooking time is an hour--but you only need to show up every 15 minutes to flip them over. You can spend the time in between washing the dishes, reading or scrolling through Facebook or whatever floats your boat.

We had them twice with mash, gravy and vegetables. (4 patties each)

We had Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner) and ate them with QUICHE and grits. (4 patties each.)

I had 4 patties left, so I crumbled them and fried them in a little oil put them on a pizza.

The original recipe is adapted from THIS WEBSITE  and she uses walnuts. I was out of walnuts but had lots of sunflower seeds as were given a kilogram of them for Christmas. I have made them both ways and felt there was little to no difference except in price. Walnuts are way more expensive. So use walnuts if you can afford to, sunflower seeds if you can’t. 

Oat and Sunflower Seed "Sausage" Patties

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F

Line two large baking sheets/roasting pans with parchment paper.

3 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup tamari or low sodium soy sauce

1/4 c. nutritional yeast

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp maple syrup or other liquid sweetener

1 tbsp. dried sage

1 tbsp. Italian seasoning(1 tsp each basil, oregano, thyme, pinch rosemary)

2 tsp fennel seeds

1-2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp liquid smoke

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/2 tbsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper 

3 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (I just processed my old-fashioned oats in the food processor a bit and it worked great.

 1 cup walnuts or sunflower seeds – pulse in a food processor a few times until they are like nuggets or crumbs--don't over do it or you'll make a paste. 

1. Combine all ingredients, except oats and walnuts or sunflower seeds, in a medium sauce pan; bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Remove from heat; add oats and nuts or seeds and stir well. Allow mixture to sit for 5-10 minutes.

3. Scoop mixture into 2 inch round balls; place on prepared baking sheets and flatten gently with hands. I do 14 on one sheet and 14 on the other.  Bake 15 minutes; flip sausages and bake an additional 15 minutes.

If you want to freeze them wrap them in cling film and wrap the cling film in foil and put in a sandwich box. I can fit 4 flat in the bottom of a sandwich box, with a piece of parchment on top and another four on top. Parchment between helps them stop sticking. The rest prevents freezer burn. Defrost overnight in the fridge and pan fry to reheat and re-crisp the outside.