Seitan Sausage Rigatoni is a great family meal. ‘Sausage’ from the Instant Pot is combined for a chunky sauce that’s basic enough for the kids to love too.
We have a lot of pasta in our house in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colors. Any one of them can be a memorable meal but give me spaghetti or rigatoni pasta and it will bring back childhood memories.
We are so lucky to have the variety of pasta that we do at the grocery stores but it wasn’t always so. I’m thinking back to when I was a kid and that really wasn’t that long ago. It seems we have everything now.
The rigatoni mom served was unbelievable and I don’t think I could ever duplicate it but I think this recipe is really close. Seitan Sausage Rigatoni is pretty darn tasty.
Finally, finally, finally I’ve put a seitan recipe on the blog. It really deserves it’s own post but I wasn’t organized enough. I’m always playing with my recipes and this seitan one just happened today and I didn’t want to wait to share.
Seitan Sausage Rigatoni with ‘sausage’ from a pressure cooker!
This seitan is so simple and it’s made the way I like it. Lightly chewy with the most pleasing texture. You can use this same method over and over again and change up the spices and flavorings. The choices are endless.
Go ahead and double up the recipe if you’d like some leftover seitan to freeze. It works great and makes future meals really simple when the seitan is already made.
You can break down this recipe for Seitan Sausage Rigatoni into two days too. That would be easier if you’re short on time.
Make the seitan one day and have it for dinner the next. They say seitan is always better the next day anyway but these little ‘sausages’ are already fabulous right out of the pot.
I can attest to that.
Vegan Sausage Rigatoni Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups Seitan sausage, ingredients and instructions below - sliced into rounds
- 3 cups uncooked rigatoni
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 28 ounces tomatoes, diced - canned
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- dash ground black pepper
For the Seitan Sausage:
- 3/4 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
For the liquid that goes into the Instant Pot:
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
Instructions
- To a medium bowl add the vital wheat gluten, garbanzo flour, ground sage, onion powder, garlic powder and salt. Mix well.
- To a small bowl add vegetable broth , tomato sauce and maple syrup. Mix well.
- Pour the vegetable broth into the dry mixture and start mixing. It will come together very quickly and will be moist.
- Start to knead the dough making sure all is well incorporated. Only knead for about 2 or 3 minutes. It should be stretchy and pull back but still pliable.
- Pull apart into about 11 pieces and roll between your palms into longish rolls. Place into the Instant Pot/pressure cooker. They aren't pretty but they will taste great. As they cook the 'sausage' rolls will double in size and you will end up with a couple of cups of seitan. When you slice them into rounds they will be nice little discs to quickly fry.
- Pour the 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, 1 1/2 cups water and 2 tablespoons tomato sauce over the seitan logs in the Instant Pot.
- Close lid, make sure the top knob is turned to sealing. Press manual on the front of the pot. Push button to 4 (meaning 4 minutes) and that's it. The Instant Pot will make a click and start to build pressure.
- It will take about 15 minutes to build pressure and cook. Leave them in the pot and let them set and they will cook more as the pressure is naturally releasing. Don't vent. In about 40 minutes or even longer (I let it go an hour) go ahead and vent. It may already have cooled completely but vent to make sure and then open the lid.
- Remove the 'sausages' from the liquid and place in a glass bowl. You can eat them right away, add to your recipe or keep in the fridge overnight. They are great the next day.
- If you're cooking right now then slice each 'sausage' into rounds. I like them sort of thick - so about 1/2" thick. If your rolls puffed up more than you thought they would you can cut your disks into halves also.
- If you are cooking your dinner now then while your seitan is cooking go ahead and cook the rigatoni according to package directions then drain and and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet and add the seitan disks and brown quickly over medium high heat. Remove and set aside.
- Add the onion to the pan and saute about 10 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook another minute.
- Add diced tomatoes and spices. Raise to a boil and then turn down and simmer about minutes.
- Add the cooked rigatoni and browned seiten. Heat through for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
This makes me so happy Andrea. I love comfort food too and I’m so glad you found this recipe. Tank you so much for all your kind words. Cheers!
Aw Jeepers ! I saw the glass of red wine and thought “My kinda recipe” And oh my … this recipe did not disappoint ~ the seitan was scrumptious and all the flavors in the dish just melded perfectly. THANK YOU … and yes – I did enjoy a glass of deep red wine with my dinner. Thank you for sharing. This will be a keeper in my menu box.
This seitan was so easy to make and it was really tender. Perfect and comforting pasta dish!
Thank you so much Jennifer! I’m also always trying new ways too. I really like this pressure cooker method though. Hope you get to try it sometime.
Yes Meryl, these were cooked in the pressure cooker mode. I don’t know how you can time an actual pressure cooker though. Maybe yours has a timer. Not sure if this will help but it took about 12 minutes to raise to pressure cooking and then cooked for 4 minutes so at that point I’d remove the pressure cooker from the heat and let it cool by itself. Not sure how long that would be for your appliance. I’d wait an hour and then remove the regulator and let the pressure out if it hasn’t already done it itself. Keep in mind – I am guessing. These times won’t be the same if you have a large pressure cooker. The Instant Pot is actually pretty small. It only holds 4 pint jars.
What a great close up photo! Lovely textures! I still have to do more with Seitan. I enjoy it when I have it but I have it very little.
This looks like a great recipe and I can’t wait to try it. My only problem is that I don’t have an Instant Pot. However, I do have a pressure cooker. Are these two pots the same thing? If not, what would be your recommendation for cooking these sausages with a pressure cooker or by any other means?