Vegan Wednesday!

Homemade Vegan "Pepperoni"

(as seen on Recipezaar.com)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup cold water

1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon paprika (smoked paprika is even better!)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon barbecue sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon whole anise seed
1 teaspoon red peppercorns
1 teaspoon green peppercorns

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten

Directions:
1.  Start the water in the steamer so it will be boiling when your ready. Finely mash the beans with a fork. Add water, sugar, paprika, olive oil, salt, liquid smoke, bbq sauce, and cayenne - mix well.

2.  Roughly grind anise seed, peppercorns, and red pepper flakes with a mortar and pestle. Add into mixture. Add in wheat gluten and mix well with a fork.

3.  Divide dough into three equal portions. Shape each into a tube and wrap like a tootsie roll in heavy duty aluminum foil. Make sure to wrap it tightly by twisting the ends. Heavy duty foil is needed to keep the pepperoni from bursting out of the wrapping when cooking.

4.  Steam for 45 minutes. Cool and slice. You can use as is or also fry them up a bit on each side to make a crispier pepperoni.