Vegan Gnocchi with Sausage & Zucchini is a great easy but elevated dish for any occasion. This meal uses my homeade Easy Vegan Sausage recipe, but you can choose to add store bought plant-based sausages if you like.
Vegan Gnocchi with Sausage & Zucchini
This recipe is great because you can make it super quick and easy if you opt for using store bought gnocchi and/or store bought sausage. I do highly recommend using my homeade Vegan Sausage though! It really amps up the dish and makes it an extra special treat.
Vegan Store-Bought Gnocchi
If you want to go the extra mile, you can totally make a homeade gnocchi too! (I’ll have one up on the blog soon). Homeade gnocchi is more time consuming than my Vegan Sausage, so if you do one homeade in this recipe I suggest the sausage. As far as package gnocchi goes, be sure to pick a vegan store bought gnocchi. Some store-bought gnocchis contain non-vegan monoglycerides and other animal-based ingredients. You can grab some vegan Little Pasta Organics Gluten Free Mini Gnocchi or go for some Difatti gnocchi.
Zucchini, Olive Oil & Vegan Parmesan
This Vegan Gnocchi with Sausage & Zucchini uses a super simple topping of olive oil drizzle and grated vegan cheese. The sautéed zucchini and garlic along with the olive oil gives your gnocchi a ton of flavour, so it does not need a heavy sauce. The simple olive oil topping lets you taste the marvellous vegan sausage instead of being drown out by tomato sauce.
I highly recommend having a quality olive oil in your pantry to use for drizzling (as many lower quality olive oils are not 100% olive oil despite claiming so). Your high quality olive oil isn’t for cooking, but for finishing dishes, making sauces or dressings. Acropolis Organic Olive Oil is an excellent extra virgin olive oil for finishing. You will absolutely taste the difference!
Vegan Gnocchi with Sausage & Zucchini
Ingredients
Vegan Sausage
- 1/2 tbsp canola oil
- 1/2 large large white onion chopped
- 1 garlic clove chopped
- 1/4 tsp sage
- 1/4 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (or strained tomato)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup sparkling water
- 3/4 cup vital wheat gluten (CANNOT be substituted for any other flour)
Vegetables
- 1 large zucchini
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt to taste
- olive oil for cooking
Gnocchi
- 2 packages store bought gnocchi (or make homeade gnocchi)
Toppings
- olive oil drizzled on top
- 1/4 cup vegan parmesan of grated mozzarella sprinkled on top
- sprinkle fresh herbs of choice (optional)
Instructions
Vegan Sausage
- Add canola oil to a pan and sautée your chopped onion and garlic until soft. Add the fennel seeds, thyme, sage, and basil. Let it cook for another minute.
- Using your immersion hand blender or food processor, add the chickpeas, onion-garlic-spices mixture, tomato paste, salt, smoked paprika, soy sauce, and sparkling water. Pulse until it’s saucy.
- Add the vital wheat gluten flour and pulse again until it comes together in a ball. (Since gluten flour is so fine, I like to mix it in a quarter cup at a time. This keeps your flour from flying into the air and making a mess).
- You should now have a somewhat sticky dough. Divide it into 4 equal chunks. Roll each seitan chunk into a sausage shape, then roll each sausage tightly in aluminum foil. (you can use a layer of parchment paper between the sausage and foil, but this is personal preference). Twist the ends so that the seitan is completely covered in foil.
- Fill a large pot with a couple of inches of water and place a steam basket in it. Make sure the water does not go past the steam basket or your sausages will get wet! Bring it to high heat.
- Place the seitan sausages into the steaming basket. Try not to stack them, but a bit of overlap is okay. Let them steam for about 40 minutes, flipping them after 20 minutes.
- Remove them from the foil and parchment paper (they will be hot)!
- Set aside (you will pan fry them with your vegetables).
Vegetables
- Wash and slice your zucchini. Chop your garlic.
- Add to pan, along with your sliced vegan sausage, with some oil. Sauté on medium heat.
- Cook your gnocchi according to package directions. Drain.
- Add your gnocchi to the pan of zucchini and sausage. Stir.
- Plate and top with a drizzle of olive oil, a handful of fresh herbs of choice (optional) and sprinkle of vegan cheese.
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