Although the feel of the sausage raw was heavy and thick, which might lead one to cook them longer than necessary, upon eating they were tender not mushy and a bit juicy. I had mine with a dipping sauce of Thai Peanut Sauce by Two Brothers – a Heinen’s store brand mixed with a little ketchup ’cause the peanut sauce was awful – just awful. You know peanuts grow underground and have a moldy component that can’t be washed off. Two Brothers must have used the worst of the worst. I finished my sausage with plain ketchup. If I want peanut sauce I’ll make my own.
Unlike most people and most cooking instructions that come with veggie meats, I prefer a pan-fry to a microwave or oven bake. They just come out better, more like the real thing if you know what I mean.
Texture was good, made a good sandwich, which Steve had (minus the peanut sauce). I never did get the Italian factor. In fact I forgot it was labeled Italian, that’s why I tried the peanut sauce after taking a taste from one end of a link to check for doneness.
It had a lot of heat. What is it about veggie meat makers that makes them think Italian means hot? You do understand the longer a product sets with heat in it, the hotter it gets. Maybe the recipe/formula was tested before it had time to cure/mature. Yeah maybe. Maybe not. You need tasters at every level of development. Where’s the fennel seed or ground fennel? Now that’s Italian. Oregano better than basil because you use less – need less. I don’t know who inspired their Italian Seasoning blend, but it didn’t work – this is a dense meat we’re talking about here, not a marinara sauce.
And put some oil in it.
If I were trying to impress a guest with animal-free Italian sausage, I wouldn’t use this one. Of course who knows who really makes it, since Trader Joe’s label is on it. No one at the store level has the time nor the inkling on how to pass anything up the chain. Chances are the first person it was passed to would crumble it and throw it in the basket. Websites don’t work either. By the time I call or connect on the web the packaging is long gone and without it there’s no complaint or suggestion that they’ll take. It’s not a good system.
THE ANIMAL-FREE CHEF™ 