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Soutzoukakia is a favorite traditional food of Greek and Turkish cuisine, with its roots in the Ottoman Empire. They are known as Smyrna or Politika soutzoukakia. Their name comes from the Turkish word "sucuk", which means "sausage".

Traditionally, they are shaped like long meatballs or small sausages, hence their name. Their characteristics are, in addition to their shape, the way they are cooked, as they are firstly fried, and then simmered in tomato sauce, as well as the distinctive flavor of garlic and cumin.

So, here we are going to have their vegan (and thus fasting) version, which is lentil-based and, believe me, it is one of those recipes that even your non-vegan friends will definitely enjoy, without being able to tell the difference from the non-vegan soutzoukakia!

It seems like it's a lot of trouble, but it's not. In fact, it's quite a simple food. In just three steps it's done. Mix all the ingredients for the soutzoukakia, form them, and finally make the sauce and boil them to soften.

Enjoy these seriously tasty vegan Greek soutzoukakia, and we look forward to your comments!

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Lentils' soutzoukakia (kebab) with tomato sauce and rice. Lentils kebab (souzoukakia). A plant-based, vegetarian and vegan recipe.

Super flavorful Greek lentil soutzoukakia

Delicious plant-based Greek soutzoukakia made from lentils! Tender, cooked in a rich tomato sauce, with a wonderful cumin, allspice, and cinnamon aroma.
4.96 from 21 votes
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Course: Main, Main Course
Cuisine: Greek, Greek modern, Greek traditional, Turkish, Greek / Vegan, Modern Greek
Keywords: fast, fasting, kebab, lentils, sauce, tomato-sauce, tomatoes, vegan, vegan, kebab, kebab, fasting, fasting, traditional, sauce, sausage, lentils
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Soaking time: 8 hours
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 24 Suzuki (approx)
Calories: 79kcal
Author: Thodoris Tibilis

Ingredients

Soutzoukakia

  • 1 cup lentils (brown)/10.5 oz
  • 1 cup oat flakes
  • 2 big carrots grated on the coarse side
  • 4 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 3 tsp ground cumin
  • 4 sun-dried tomatoes finely chopped (optional)
  • salt and pepper
  • ½ cup olive oil (for frying)

Sauce

  • 6 tomatoes blended or grated (or 1500 g/52.9 oz canned tomato sauce)
  • cup red wine
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 10 corns allspice or ½ tsp ground
  • 1 stick cinnamon or ¼ tsp ground
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp unprocessed sugar or other vegan sweetener
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

Soutzoukakia

  • Soak the lentils the night before.
  • Put the soaked lentils and all the other ingredients for the suzukaki, except the olive oil, in the blender (or food processor, where you might have to divide it into two batches) and mix well until combined. The mixture should be relatively thick to keep the form you'll give it. If it is too moist, add some oat flakes.
  • Then, form them with slightly oiled hands. Give them a meatball shape and then squeeze them lightly into your palm to get the characteristic, slightly long shape, like a small sausage.
  • In a pan heat the olive oil over medium to high temperature. Once hot, put the soutzoukakia in the pan and fry them, turning them, so they can be cooked on all sides.
  • When ready, put them on a large plate, where you've layed some kitchen paper to absorb the oil.

Sauce

  • In a large frying pan, put the olive oil, allspice, and cinnamon, and heat over medium temperature.
  • Once hot, sauté the garlic for a minute (be careful it doesn't get bitter).
  • Add the red wine, tomatoes and bay leaves and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Next, add the soutzoukakia to the sauce and slightly lower the temperature. Simmer for 10 minutes and the soutzoukakia are ready!
  • If you're not in a hurry, remove the pan from the heat and set aside for another 5 minutes, so that the flavors come together.

Notes

  1. Optionally, you can leave the mixture in the refrigerator for half an hour to tighten so you can form it more easily.
  2. When you put the soutzoukakia in the sauce, check the temperature so that they simmer. Make sure the sauce doesn't bubble too much because this might dissolve the soutzoukakia or even make the sauce or the soutzoukakia stick to the pan.
  3. If you want, you can give them a special shape, like the one in the photo, using the quenelle technique, where we use two tablespoons.

Nutrition

Calories: 79kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 122mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1124IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg

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