Morcilla vegana (black bean sausage)

 

Bean sausage made with black turtle beans and a special blend of spices that make this Spanish sausage (morcilla) unique.


Hola!

Today I bring you a black bean sausage. It is made with black turtle beans and a special blend of spices that make this Spanish sausage (morcilla) unique. The inside is soft but chunky, thanks to the bean pieces I left whole. A very versatile recipe that you can use as a sausage for a nice baguette, for your vegan English breakfast, for tapas, you can use it in a stew, or even without the casing as a flavoursome spread.

PLANT POWER, MAKE UP!

The original morcilla is made with onion, sometimes rice, and pigs’ blood, which I always found gross, even when I was still an omnivore. Due to the high amount of iron, it has a very specific flavour. But what contributes to the overall is also the spice blend. It was not easy to find a consensus online because there are almost as many kinds of morcilla as there are provinces in Spain. I tried making this last year for my baked rice recipe, and although it didn’t turn out the way I wanted (they broke apart because I tried to boil them), I managed to salvage some of them. And from those, I applied the learnings from the first spice blend. Watch out for the ground cloves, it is the spice that gives the characteristic taste to this sausage, but at the same time they are quite overpowering. You are welcome to adjust spices and salt to taste.

I remember when I found the vegan casings online. I was so excited that I bought them and didn’t really read the instructions before using them. No wonder that the first attempt went horribly. From this experience I learnt that the casings work so much better when the filling is very cold. So, please, don’t ignore the steps where you need to refrigerate the filling. You cannot boil the sausages because the casings dissolve (which is stupid, if you ask me), but if you fry them first, that creates a harder exterior and makes them manageable. Nevertheless, they are quite soft even after fried, but so are the original morcillas, which break easily. You don’t really need the casings if you just want to make a nice bean spread.


MORCILLA VEGANA (BLACK BEAN SAUSAGE)


Makes: 7-8 sausages
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes


INGREDIENTS

1 cup dry black beans (500g cooked)
1 veggie stock cube
2 bay leaves
2 small onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
A pinch of ground cinnamon
1/2 tbsp. tapioca starch
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Vegan sausage casings


INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Cook the beans as per pack instructions (1h for me), with the veggie stock cube and the bay leaves. 
  2. Fry the onions with a spray of olive oil at a medium heat until softened. Add the garlic and fry for another minute. In the meantime, mix the oregano, cumin, cloves and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
  3. Push the veg to the sides and add the 1/2 tbsp. olive oil to the middle of the pan, let it get hot, and add the spice mix. Stir until the spices bloom (1-2 minutes), and then stir in the veg from the sides to combine. Turn the heat to medium-low.
  4. Add the cooked beans and stir to coat with the spices. Add the tapioca, nutritional yeast, soy sauce and salt. Adjust spices to taste. Stir to combine well. Blend partially with a hand blender. Keep in the fridge overnight.
  5. The next day, put the mixture into a piping bag. Cut the cases at your preferred length, leaving an extra 1 inch (2.5cm) on each side to wrap up the endings. Start filling the casing with the piping bag, pushing through to leave no bubbles. Twist the ending, letting the air escape, and push the mixture towards the closed end. Twist the other end, removing as much air as possible. Repeat until you finish all the mixture.
  6. Keep them in the fridge for a few hours before cooking. You can fry them or put them in the oven, but boiling them will break the casing and they will break apart. If you want to use them in a stew, fry them first.

You don't even need the casings, since the filling makes for such a good spread.

You can keep them in the fridge for a couple of days or freeze them.

Bon profit!