Roast serves 8

The little black dress of the serving platter. Always a classic. Always in style. For Vegansgiving, but really also for any holiday, this studded bundle of fun is the centerpiece of your dreams. It’s a meaty blend of chickpeas and seitan, with a basic-but-in-a-good-way stuffing inside. The flavors are delicious but subtle; think thyme and rosemary and garlic and just a hint of smoke for that turki flavor. Easy to pair with any rich gravy and other more in-your-face flavors making it the perfect centerpiece. And if you want to have some fun with the filling, you can totally add in some chopped sausage, bacon or nuts.

The method is pretty simple so don’t be deterred: you blend up a seitany-beany concoction for the turki meat, roll it out, place the stuffing down the middle and wrap it all up in tin foil. Then it bakes! Once it’s baked, you baste it with a little olive oil and veggie broth to infuse the skin with some flavor while also making it more tender – but still with some chew – and ready for that carving knife. Or just a regular knife, don’t be so dramatic.

Here it’s served with some roasted veggies and garnished with rosemary and parsley, but you do you, boo. This recipe is from my cookbook Fake Meat! You should probably buy it 🙂

Recipe notes:

~if you are using fresh bread cubes, bake the cubes for about 5 minutes in a 350 F oven so that they are dry and slightly toasted.

Ingredients

Let’s make it!

Prepare the stuffing. Preheat a large skillet over low heat. Saute garlic in 2 tablespoons of oil, just to warm through. Add rosemary and thyme. 

Scatter in bread cubes and drizzle with remaining olive oil, flipping to coat. Add broth, pepper and salt and toss again. It will be moist but still crunchy.  Taste for salt. Let cook for about 10 minutes, then set aside to cool. 

Prepare the roast. Preheat oven to 350 F. 

In a blender, puree chickpeas, broth, aquafaba, salt, olive oil, liquid smoke, apple cider vinegar and agave. Get it as smooth as possible, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula as needed. 

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, sage, onion powder, garlic powder and ground white pepper. Make a well in the center and add the blended mixture. Use gloved hands to knead for about 3 minutes. 

Form roast. Prepare a piece of tin foil that is about 22 inches long (or big enough to wrap the turkey). Spray with cooking oil. 

On a clean surface, use your hands or a rolling pin to flatten the seitan into a roughly 12 x 10 rectangle.

Place the filling in the lower 1/3 of the seitan rectangle, leaving about 2 inches of space on the left and right side. Make sure the filling is compact, use your hands to form it into a nice, tight bundle.

Now roll! Roll the bottom part of the seitan up and over the filling. Keep rolling until in it’s in a log shape. Pinch together the seam and the sides to seal. It doesn’t have to be perfect, things will snap into shape when baking.

Place the roll in the center of the tinfoil and wrap up securely, twisting the ends of the tin foil. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for an hour and 20 minutes. Rotate the roll every 20 to 30 minutes for even cooking.

Let cool a bit then unwrap. Lightly grease with a little olive oil. Place back on the baking sheet and spoon on vegetable broth. Place back in oven 15 minutes or so, to brown a little bit, basting with vegetable broth and turning about halfway through, to prevent drying out. If heating from refrigerated, it will be closer to 20 minutes, rotating often.

Let cool a bit, slice and serve!