Vegan Braciole

My brother gave me The Sopranos Family Cookbook for my 30th birthday. A few months later I became a vegan and the book started to collect dust. This summer I started thumbing through the book to see what recipes I could veganize with tofu or seitan. My best success was with this recipe, a veganized version of stuffed beef rolls. If you subscribe to Bryanna Clark Grogan's Vegan Feast Newsletter, you may recognize this from the readers' submission section. The recipe takes a little time, but it is perfect for a special Friday night candle light dinner with that special someone.

Ingredients:
Feel free to half the recipe if you aren't feeding a whole family
- 8 beefy seitan steaks, made as thin as possible, cooled
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 6 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 8 slices vegan ham
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 8 cups tomato puree
- 8 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
- 1 lb ziti or penne, cooked and still hot

Method:
1. Lay seitan steaks flat on countertop. Sprinkle with chopped garlic, parsley, nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper. Place slice of vegan ham on each. Roll up and tie with kitchen string.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick sauce pan on medium heat. Add the braciole and garlic. Brown the braciole, turning until deep golden brown on all sides. Remove braciole from pan and put on a plate.
3. Add wine to the pan and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove and discard garlic. Stir in tomato puree and basil.
4. Put braciole into the sauce. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 mins.
5. Serve sauce over hot cooked ziti with the braciole. Or, if you are a purist, serve the ziti and sauce as a first course, followed by the braciole.