Gluten-free Vegan Italian Sausage

 You may see a trend here. I am using black eyed peas because they cause less gas than most other beans, they don't turn to mush like most beans, and they blend well with the flavors. Garbanzo beans are good on the tummy, but they just didn't have the flavor I wanted for my vegan "sausage". I'm just making the crumbled version because I would be breaking it up anyway.

                Gluten-free Vegan Italian Sausage
1 sweet yellow onion diced
4 garlic cloves diced
1 diced sweet red pepper
4 medium sized portabellas sliced
2 cups cooked black eyed peas
3 TBS olive oil
1 TBS liquid smoke
1 TBS sweet paprika
1 TBS fennel seeds
1 TBS freshly chopped Italian parsley leaves
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp anise seeds

First cook down the mushrooms to get all the liquid out and drain and remove from pan. Then add olive oil, onions, garlic, red peppers, paprika, fennel seeds, chopped parsley, cayenne, salt and anise seeds and cook until onions are translucent. Stir in liquid smoke. Combine mushrooms and black eyed peas to food processor and pulse until chopped, do not puree! Add into pan and combine well and you're done! I use this recipe for Italian nachos or to top pizza.