Vegan "mortadella" from a ham cooker

Name: Vegan "mortadella" from a ham cooker
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 75 ml (5 tbsp) soy sauce; 750 g cooked red lentils (use about 350 g dry for cooking); 250 g ground dry red lentils or lentil flour; 60 g (about 4 tbsp) ground flaxseed; about 20 ml miso paste (you can omit it and add more soy sauce); 1 cooked beet (about 200 g); 2 tbsp marjoram; 2 tbsp thyme; 2 tbsp hot smoked paprika; 3 tbsp sweet smoked paprika; 1 package (about 200 g) smoked tofu

There are more and more vegan meat substitutes available in stores and food outlets, and the number of consumers interested in such products is steadily growing. The benefits—mainly health-related—of reducing the amount of meat we eat are increasingly discussed. More and more people are also basing their homemade, self-prepared menus on vegan ingredients. Vegan burgers, plant-based sausages, and dairy-free cheeses are very popular, for example. According to the dietary recommendations of the Institute of Food and Nutrition, we should consume much less meat than we currently do, and we also reach too often for the least healthy one—pork. We also consume too much cholesterol and salt. Taking all this into account, we propose a special recipe. Instead of eggs, the ingredients include flaxseed, which lowers cholesterol, reduces blood sugar levels, and is a good source of protein. Additionally, flaxseed contains essential Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids that are vital for proper brain and immune system function.

Vegetarian and vegan dishes are an interesting and healthy way to diversify your daily diet—if you haven't tried them yet, now's a great opportunity. There aren't many recipes for meat-free yet easy-to-make hams and sausages. But there is the ham cooker—the perfect device for preparing meat-free cold cuts! Vegan “mortadella” is one of them.

Notes

Recipe for vegan "mortadella" from a ham cooker

Preparation:

Soak dry red lentils in water overnight. Then cook until tender without adding salt. Let cool and blend into a smooth mixture. Cook the beet in water, steam it, or bake it in the oven, let it cool, then grate it on a fine grater. Add to the lentils.

Grind the flaxseed (you can use ready-ground flaxseed) and add it to the mixture along with the marjoram, thyme, smoked paprika, and soy sauce, then mix thoroughly. Set the mixture aside for 5 minutes; during this time the flaxseed will start binding it.

In the meantime, grind the dry lentils in a grinder or high-speed blender (to the consistency of flour or coarsely ground coffee beans). Add the ground dry lentils to the mixture gradually, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you get a consistency that easily comes off the spoon. You can also mix the mixture by hand and assess whether you can form a ball from all the ingredients. Finally, cut the tofu into small cubes and add it to the mixture. Mix thoroughly.

Prepare a 1.5 kg ham cooker, insert the dedicated bag, and fill it with portions of the mixture, tamping it down firmly. Close the ham cooker and place it in the water to poach for about 1.5 hours. After this time, remove the ham cooker from the water and let it cool. Then open the ham cooker and remove the bag with the finished “mortadella”.

Jagoda Dąbrowska

dietitian

Enjoy! ...because homemade is better!

Ingredients