People who are not familiar with Latvian cuisine, probably won’t understand easily what exactly yeast-free vegan seitan pies with leek are. Probably the closest comparison would be with empanadas. But basically, it’s a vegan version of a delicious snack that Latvians eat mostly around Christmas. The original version unfortunately contains animal products, but the thing that I have learned as a vegan, is that you can veganize basically everything. The only thing that you might need is a little bit of creativity!
What is seitan
Before we dive into the recipe, it’s worth to talk a bit about seitan. A food product that might be unfamiliar not only to non-vegans, but also to some new vegans. So, in short, seitan is a food product made of wheat gluten. Vegans use it, because its flavor and texture resemble meat. And that means that it can be very useful as a meat substitute when you need to veganize a meat dish. Like in this case the yeast-free vegan seitan pies with leek. Unfortunately, seitan is not suitable for people who are allergic to gluten. But at the same time, it can be a good alternative for vegans who cannot eat soy. You can prepare seitan at home by buying the wheat gluten powder, or simply buy seitan in a food store. Nowadays it has become so popular that you shouldn’t have any problems to find it.
How to prepare yeast-free vegan seitan pies with leek
The preparation process of vegan seitan pies might take a bit of time, but trust me – the result is worth it! The filling of the pies is very simple – seitan, leek and spices. Seitan and leek need to be cut in tiny pieces and cooked in a frying pan together with spices of your choice. Easy, right? Equally easy is also the preparation of the dough. You just need to mix together flour, oil, water and salt. No yeast, as you probably already understood. That means that you can start to work with your dough immediately. The making of the seitan pies is simple – roll out the dough, place a teaspoon of the filling close to one of the edges, fold the dough over the filling and create a half moon form with a glass. Continue with the rest of the ingredients.
Once you have used all the dough and all the filling, brush some oil and water over the pies. If you want, sprinkle over some seeds for extra flavor. Then put seitan pies in the oven and bake until ready. And that’s it! Enjoy these yeast-free vegan seitan pies with leek as a simple snack between meals. Or follow my suggestion and eat them together with some delicious vegan soup. A great option for this can be my creamy vegan potato leek soup!
As you could’ve already imagined, Specky is against these kinds of snacks. With that I mean snacks that he cannot eat. So, in these cases I treat him with some other delicious things. For example, with a fresh and crunchy romaine lettuce leaf!
In case you have never prepared anything with seitan, but you’ve always been curious about it, this is your chance! Prepare these seitan pies with leek that are:
-
vegan
- easy to make
- yeast-free
- perfect together with soups
- filling
- flavorful
- and simply yummy!
Let me know, if you try this recipe! Leave a comment or even more – make Specky happy! Snap a picture of your masterpiece and post it on Instagram or Facebook by tagging @bunnymommycooks. And feel free to let your animal family members join in the picture!
| Prep Time | 25 min |
| Cook Time | 25 min |
| Servings |
seitan pies
|
- 400 g of flour
- 3 tablespoons of oil (+1 extra tablespoon of oil for brushing)
- 250 ml of water (+2 extra tablespoons of water for brushing)
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 120 g of seitan
- 100 g of leek
- oil for cooking
- spices of your choice (I used garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper)
- 2 tablespoons of a mix of different seeds (optional)
Ingredients
For the dough:
For the filling:
Other ingredients:
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- cut seitan and leek in tiny pieces;
- warm up some oil in a frying pan and put seitan and leek pieces in it;
- add good amount of different spices of your choice, mix everything well together and cook for 7 – 10 minutes until leek pieces have turned soft.
- heat the oven to 200°C/390°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper;
- in a big bowl sift the flour together with salt;
- in a glass mix together water with oil and then add it to the flour;
- mix everything well together until a pizza-type-of-dough is formed. Keep kneading the dough still for a while until it doesn’t stick to your hands anymore.
- place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out until it’s thin, but not transparent;
- start to make seitan pies by placing a full teaspoon of the prepared filling close to one of the edges of the dough. Then fold the dough over the filling and create a half moon form by using a glass as a cutter. Place the prepared seitan pie on the baking tray and repeat with the rest of the dough;
- when all the dough and filling is used, mix in a glass some oil and water and brush the mixture over every seitan pie. If you’re afraid that the seitan pies might open during the baking, prick every seitan pie with a fork. If you’re using seeds, sprinkle them over every seitan pie by lightly pressing them into the dough;
- place the baking tray in the middle compartment of a preheated oven and bake the seitan pies for 12 – 15 minutes. The baking time depends on how thin you rolled out the dough. Do not overbake the seitan pies to avoid that they become too dry;
- once the seitan pies are golden brown, take them out of the oven. Cut one seitan pie open to be sure that the dough is baked also inside.
