Ultimate Vegan Gammon Roast
Get ready to produce the best Vegan Gammon Roast at home completely from scratch that features 0% cruelty, 100% taste!
Allow me to introduce the ultimate, juiciest vegan gammon ever.
This vegan gammon roast, or ham, if you like makes the perfect main course for a special occasion like Thanksgiving, Christmas or for a great Sunday roast. Believe me when I say this beast will undoubtedly be the star of your table!
Made out of wheat gluten and pea protein, this meaty vegan loaf is layered with fat and carries a chewy see-through fatty top.
To make it shine even more, surround this beauty with some good old Roasted Potatoes, and other trimmings of your choice such as Easy Sautéed Cabbage, Green Bean Casserole, Cauliflower "Cheese", and, obviously Vegan Gravy.
Got leftovers?? No problem! Use them in sandwiches or even casserole dishes.
Let me walk you step by step through its preparation, but first a couple of words about the ingredients and the substitutions (paragraph below contains affiliate links).
Wheat Gluten. It can be found in most health shops or online here. Can it be substituted? No.
Pea Protein Isolate. Unflavoured. It's a popular powder for protein shakes and can be bought here. Substitutions: Soy Protein Isolate, Chickpea Flour or other legume flours.
Sourdough Starter. Not fundamental but highly recommended for a more authentic taste. I talk about how I started mine in this post. Subs: 25 g Flour + 25 g Water + 5 g Vinegar , OR 1 tablespoon Miso Paste or Fermented Tofu + 15 g Water and 20 g Flour.
Flour. Any of your choice will do.
Pickled Beetroot Juice. The juice from jarred beets, for both color and flavor. It can be substituted with water and Beetroot Powder.
Golden Syrup. It can be substituted with any sugar or syrups.
Margarine (for the layers). It can be substituted with room temperature Vegan Butter or Coconut Oil (semi solid, as in a paste). Please note do not melt the fats, they have to be spreadable.
Coconut Oil (for the fat layer, optional). It can be substituted with margarine or vegan butter.
Glaze (optional). Can be substituted with your favourite tried and tested glaze or you can omit it.
How to make the Vegan Gammon Roast
PREPARE THE SEITAN MIX
In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients: gluten, pea protein, flour and spices. If you'd like to have a marbled dough as the one pictured in this post, add the beetroot juice to the dry mix and stir it in breafly.
In a jug add the sourdough, the beetroot juice (if you want a single tone loaf) and the water. Mix with a fork to loosen up the sourdough. Finally stir in the syrup.
Pour the liquids to the dry mix and work it into a dough.
For this stage I highly recommend to use a dough mixer, however if you don't own one you can definitely use your hand and a pinch of extra strength.
Work the seitan for 10-15 minutes (up to 25 if kneading by hands), then cover with some film and allow to rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Resting time is essential to properly shape the vegan gammon and to create the layers of fat.
LAYERING THE FAT
After resting, the seitan dough will become super stretchy.
Place the dough on a surface and start pulling the edges as thin as you can. If you're familiar with bread making, this step is similar to lamination.
Spread a generous amount of margarine or vegan fat over the dough.
Roll the dough first into a sausage and make sure to seal up the edges. Now roll the sausage over its length to form the vegan gammon. Allow to rest for another half an hour.
THE FAT LAYER ON TOP
The crackling, aka the top layer of fat, is simply made by layering rice paper sheets softened in a water & liquid smoke mixture and margarine or room temperature vegan butter.
This component is completely optional but recommended if you want to give your creation a more authentic look and taste.
SHAPING THE ROAST
Score the "fat" into a cross cut pattern and wrap the seitan tightly.
COOKING
Pressure cook for 45 minutes and allow to cool down for 15 minutes before opening the valve, then remove the film. If you prefer you can leave it to cool completely overnight. If you don't have a pressure cooker or Instant Pot double the time on a traditional pan.
Place the steamed gammon into a oven dish, drizzle with maple syrup, and broil in the oven at 230°C (445°F), until the top turns golden and crispy.
You can prepare the seitan in advance, steam it and keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Before serving just warm it up in the oven and broil it until golden.
Ultimate Vegan Gammon Roast Recipe
Ingredients:
...for the seitan...
150 g Vital Gluten
55 g Sourdough Starter*
50 g Flour
15 g Pea Protein Isolate
3 tablespoon Beetroot Juice (from a jar of pickled beets)
1 tablespoon Golden Syrup
1 tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
4 g Salt
1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
½ teaspoon White Pepper
½ teaspoon Garlic Pure
170 g Water (or vegetable broth)
...for the lamination...
50-70 g Margarine
...for the fatty top...
60 g Water (cold)
½ teaspoon Liquid Smoke
10 g Margarine or Vegan Butter (at room temperature)
10 Rice Papers (3-4 for the inside, the rest for the top)
...to glaze...
1 tablespoon Maple Syrup
Method:
1. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients: gluten, pea protein, flour and spices.
2. In a jug add the sourdough, the beetroot juice (if you want a single tone loaf) and the water. Mix with a fork to loosen up the sourdough. Finally stir in the syrup.
3. Pour the liquids to the dry mix and work it into a dough for around 10-15 minutes (up to 25 if kneading by hands). Cover with some film and allow to rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
4. After resting, the seitan dough will become super stretchy. Place the dough on a surface and start pulling the edges as thin as you can (lamination).
5. Spread a generous amount of soften margarine or vegan fat over the dough.
6. Mix water and liquid smoke in a deep dish, then soak 3-4 rice papers in the liquid until soft. Apply them over the margarine layer.
7. Roll the dough first into a sausage and make sure to seal up the edges. Now roll the sausage over its length to form the vegan gammon. Allow to rest for another half an hour.
8. Score the fat into a cross cut pattern and wrap the seitan tightly.
9. Pressure cook for 45 minutes and allow to cool down for 15 minutes before opening the valve, then unwrap the film.
10. Place the steamed gammon into a oven dish, drizzle with maple syrup, and broil in the oven at 230°C (445°F), until the top turns golden and crispy.
11. Carve the vegan gammon and serve with an array of veggies and vegan gravy.
Kevin Morgan
I’m a bit confused about the beetroot. If you add it to the liquid, won’t it completely incorporate into a single tone? I never saw instructions to achieve the marbling otherwise!
Adriana Z.
You are right, there's a mistake in the instructions. In order to achieve the marbled effect you have to add the beet liquid to the dry mix and stir a bit before adding the rest of the liquids. I'll edit the text shortly.
Kevin Morgan
Thank you! Now it makes sense! I can’t wait to try this recipe!