Vegan Sausage Puffs

To make the filling:

1. In a small bowl, combine flax meal and warm water. Stir and let sit to thicken while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. Preheat your pan over medium heat. Add oil and onion and cook until the onions are translucent.
3. Add garlic and stir to cook for about a minute or two (until fragrant).
4. To the pan, add celery and carrot. Use a tbsp or two of water to get things going. Cook until carrot is heated through with just a tiny bit of crunch to it, about 4-5 minutes.
5. Deglaze the pan with a hearty glug of white wine (I probably used about 1/4 cup) and stir to cook it off. Add banana pepper and purple cabbage and cook until those are heated through, about 3-4 minutes.
6. Stir in diced vegan sausage, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin and chili powder for about 2-3 minutes until everything is heated through.
7. Add chopped kale and another few tbsps of white wine (or water) to steam up the kale. Once barely wilted, finally add in the spinach. Turn off the heat and stir to combine everything (the remaining heat should wilt the spinach).
8. Transfer to a separate mixing bowl (to stop the mixture from cooking) and stir in the prepared flax egg. Set aside.

To prepare the puffs:

1. Preheat your oven to 400ºF (200ºC)
2. Pull out your thawed puff pastry and roll it out about 1/8 inch thick on a well-floured surface. Cut into 6 pieces. Fill each piece with about 1/3-1/2 cup of filling and pinch the edges closed. I crimped mine but that pretty much did absolutely nothing as you saw in the video, so you can take a knife and gently run it along the edges of the filling (maybe about 1/2 inch from the edge) to separate a "crust" for the pastry.
3. Use a baster to paint some aquafaba over the top and over the edges well to ensure a golden browning and prevent it from burning.
4. Garnish each pastry with a couple turns of freshly ground black pepper, then bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating halfway through.
5. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve immediately!
6. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge once cooled completely, then reheated either in a toaster oven or in the microwave, but it'll be crispier in the toaster oven.
7. I had leftover filling, which is great over rice or quinoa, and good as a side dish (or main, actually).