Smoky Seitan Ribz

Ingredients

• 250 g chestnut mushrooms
• 300 g vital wheat gluten
• ½ tin chickpeas (around 120 g)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons garlic granules
• 1 teaspoon onion granules
• 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 200 ml stock
• 100 g BBQ sauce and more for brushing

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan)/375°F (350°F fan)/gas mark 5 (gas mark 4 fan).

Slice the mushrooms. These don’t need to be perfect and even, it’s just to fit them in the blender.

Heat the oil in a pan and cook the mushrooms on a medium heat. Add the smoked paprika, garlic, onion, and tomato paste to make these mushrooms super smoky and flavourful. Cook for 1 minute to let the aromas sink into the mushrooms.

To a blender, add the chickpeas, smoky mushrooms, BBQ sauce, soy sauce and liquid smoke. Blend until smooth.

To a large mixing bowl, add the vital wheat gluten, the blended mushroom mixture and the stock, then stir together until you have a dough-like ball of seitan. Knead for 5 minutes and divide into 4 pieces.

Flatten the pieces out to form rough rectangle shapes about half an inch thick and put these onto a non-stick baking tray. Brush with BBQ sauce.

Cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove the tray and turn the seitan pieces over, brush with more BBQ sauce and place back into the oven for a further 20 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven and serve the Smoky Seitan Ribz with barbecue favourites such as corn on the cob, coleslaw and sweet potatoes.