A vegetarian starter or main that is gluten free and easily made vegan. It costs pennies to make and makes great use of leftovers or root veg that is on the turn. And it tastes delicious!
- 400 g red lentils
- 800 ml vegetable stock (or water)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 large sweet potato*, grated
- 1/2 swede*, grated
- 1/4 cup pecans**, chopped
- 1 large egg or flax egg if you are vegan***
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Cook the lentils in the vegetable stock or water according to package instructions (usually about 25 mins).
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Meanwhile, fry off the onion, garlic, sweet potato and swede over a low heat until slightly golden and soft (about 10 mins).
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Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Mix the lentils and vegetables and allow to cool slightly.
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Add in the nuts and egg, mix well, and then press into 2 greased loaf tins. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 mins, until golden on the edges.
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Allow to cool slightly before placing a serving dish upside down on each loaf tin and flipping it so that the lentil loaf falls out onto the dish.
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Beautiful served warm or cold with a large salad.
* make use of whatever root vegetables you have lying around that you want to use up: celeriac, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, etc should all work, too, although they will change the flavour slightly. If you are using something watery like courgettes/zucchini, make sure you sprinkle the grated vegetable with salt and leave to drain and then dry off before you use it so it doesn't add too much water.
**use whatever nuts you have on hand - I have added hazelnuts successfully. If you are a nut free family you can leave them out or try some chopped sunflower seeds instead.
***I have not made this particular recipe with a flax egg before, but I have made other lentil loaf recipes with one before very successfully, so I don't see why it wouldn't work here.