Bacon Wrapped Vegan Stuffed Soy Roast
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This Bacon Wrapped Vegan Soy Roast is THE centerpiece you can bring on the table this Holiday season. It’s the perfect meatless alternative that won’t make you miss the real thing.
I’ve been experimenting new ways of making meat substitutes in the last year, and I’m pleased to share that I came up with a few spot on alternatives that I’m sure you will love.
This is an example of what I’ve been making.
My English husband literally scored it 9/10, and the only reason why I didn’t have the highest score is because (his words) there wasn’t enough of it! That’s a bit unfair though, isn’t it??
Anyways, I won’t lie, preparation requires a few tricky steps, but if you stay with me throughout the whole preparation I’m sure you’re going to nail it just fine!
This roast is mainly formed with soy steaks, aka big chunks of textured vegan protein that you can find easily online here.
The filling is a fool proof stuffing, made using the store bought mix (I use Tesco Finest Sage&Red Onion).
Finally, the bacon layer is achieved with 1 of the numerous alternatives of vegan bacon rashers available in the shops (I used Richmond’s meat free rashers).
How to make this Bacon Wrapped Vegan Stuffed Soy Roast
First up on the to-do-list is rehydrating the “steaks”.
This step will make the soy soft and pliable as well as flavoring it.
Prepare a broth simply by pouring hot water over a vegan beef flavored stock cube (you can also use vegan chicken or simply vegetable). Add a pinch of salt, 1 tbsp of oil, maple syrup and a few bay leaves, then finally place the steaks in the broth. As they tend to float, I’d recommend to use a wide dish and put a small weight on top of the pieces just to keep them completely covered in broth.
Leave it for 1 hour, then drain the steaks (you can save the broth to cook pasta, or add to soups, risottos, etc..) and allow to cool down at room temperature.
In the meantime prepare the stuffing according to the instructions written on the package.
Once the steaks are ready to be handled, squeeze out all the extra moisture with a potato masher or simply by hands, then coat the pieces in flour.
Arrange the soy pieces over a sheet of film in 2 rows of 3 pieces each, making sure to overlap the edges of the central steaks one to another.
Cover with another piece of film and roll as flat as you can with the help of a rolling pin.
Remove the top film and sprinkle some extra flour on top of the steaks.
Now place the stuffing on one end of the roast and, carefully, begin to roll up the steaks starting at the bottom of the loaf and wrap it tightly in the plastic wrap using the excess plastic on the sides to twist. Now this step is the tricky part of the recipe, because even if we used the flour as a binder, it won’t perfectly stick the steaks together until it’s heated up. Try to roll it as well as you can, patting the junctions together once rolled. This will ensure the loaf will eventually became a whole piece.
Now bring abundant water to boil and cook the wrapped roll for 40 minutes.
Remove from the water and allow to cool down completely before removing the plastic wrap. You can also rest it in the fridge overnight if you’d like to divide the preparation over two days, or simply if you want you make it in advance.
The cooked roll can also be frozen prior to use.
All we need to do next is to prepare our trimmings. I simply served it with roasted potatoes, steamed broccolini and marinated red cabbage.
I cooked the potatoes in the same tray as the roast, from raw.
To do so, simply peel the spuds and slice into ½ cm pieces. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt, pepper and fresh rosemary. The potatoes will cook in 45-50 minutes. So remember to place it before the roast or simply cook them in a separate tray.
Unwrap the roast, sprinkle with salt, pepper and a drizzle of oil, and bake for 20 minutes.
After the first 20 minutes take the roast out and wrap it in meat free bacon rashers.
To do so, you can use the same method we used to create the log. Simply arrange the rashers on a cling film sheet, slightly overlapping one another.
Place the roast on the bottom of the overlapped bacon and roll it with the film.
Place the roast back in the oven and cook for another 10 minutes or until slightly golden.
Slice the roast prior to serving and accompany it with your favorite vegetables and gravy.
Bacon Wrapped Vegan Soy Roast Recipe
Ingredients:
8 Meat Free Bacon Rashers (150 g)
6 Soy Steaks (around 90 gr)
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
½ tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
1 cube Beef Free Stock
200 g Boling Water
Salt
Pepper
Bay Leaves
60 g Sage and Onion Stuffing (dry) + 120 ml Boiling Water
All purpose Flour (or starch for Gluten Free version)
Olive Oil to drizzle
Method:
1. Rehydrate the “steaks” by pouring hot water over a vegan beef flavored stock cube (you can also use vegan chicken or simply vegetable). Add a pinch of salt, 1 tbsp of oil, maple syrup and few bay leaves, then finally place the steaks in the broth. As they tend to float, I’d recommend to use a wide dish and put a small weight on top of the pieces just to keep them completely covered in broth.
2. Leave it for 1 hour, then drain the steaks (you can save the broth to cook pasta, or add to soups, risottos, etc..) and allow to cool down at room temperature.
3. In the meantime prepare the stuffing by pouring 120 ml of boiling water over the dry stuffing mixture, gently mix with a fork to ensure no clumps of dry stuffing remain, and allow to stand for 5 minutes.
4. Once the steaks are ready to be handled, squeeze out all the extra moisture with a potato masher or simply by hands, then coat well the pieces in flour.
5. Arrange the soy pieces over a sheet of film in 2 rows of 3 pieces each, making sure to overlap the edges of the central steaks one to another.
6. Cover with another piece of film and pound & roll as flat as you can with the help of a rolling pin.
7. Remove the top film and sprinkle some extra flour on top of the steaks.
8. Now place the stuffing on one end of the roast and, carefully, begin to roll up the steaks starting at the bottom of the loaf and wrap it tightly in the plastic wrap using the excess plastic on the sides to twist. Now this step is the tricky part of the recipe, because even if we used the flour as a binder, it won’t perfectly stick the steaks together until it’s heated up. Try to roll it as well as you can, patting the junctions together once rolled. This will ensure the loaf will eventually became a whole piece.
9. Bring abundant water to boil and cook the wrapped roll for 40 minutes.
10. Remove from the water and allow to cool down completely before removing the plastic wrap. You can also rest it in the fridge overnight if you’d like to divide the preparation over two days, or simply if you want you make it in advance.
11. Unwrap the roast, sprinkle with salt, pepper and a drizzle of oil, and bake for 20 minutes.
12. After the first 20 minutes take the roast out and wrap it in meat free bacon rashers. To do so, simply arrange the rashers on a cling film sheet, slightly overlapping one another, place the roast on the bottom of the overlapped bacon and roll it with the film.
13. Place the roast back in the oven and cook for another 10 minutes or until slightly golden.
14. Slice the roast prior to serving and accompany it with your favorite vegetables and gravy.
For Gluten Free (or easily adaptable) Meat Substitutes:
– Vegan Chicken Drumsticks
– The Best Gluten Free Vegan Pepperoni
– Turkey(less) Roast
– Cheesy Vegan Meatloaf
– Air Fried Oyster Mushrooms
– Cauliflower Hot Wings
– Gluten Free Sausages
– Ultimate Vegan Freekeh Burgers
– Quinoa and Mushroom Burgers
– Vegan “Beef” Stroganoff (Jackfruit)
– Mushroom Souvlaki
3 comments
Hi
I’m in the middle of making this – you list nutritional yeast in the ingredients, but I can’t see where you use it in the instructions- please help!
Hi Deborah, sorry about that! It goes in the marinade, but if that’s too late to be added it will still be good 😃
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