An austerity dish in origin, Lentil Loaf has always been a family favourite and P chose it as his contribution to this blog at the start - Lentil Loaf. You can often forget standard recipes especially as we are bombarded with new ways of putting fancy ingredients together via the TV and lots of magazines - and blogs. But stuck for a simple solid meal this week after our return from Africa, we found ourselves fancying this. I looked at what we had in the cupboard and fridge and made a slightly more crunchy and spicy version. Really it is something you could vary in all sorts of ways and still get something economical and delicious every time. We had a tomato sauce with it hot and ate it in sandwiches the next day with pickle and lettuce - yum!
Lentil Loaf
4 oz green lentils
8 oz red lentils
1 pint vegetable stock or as much as you need to cover the lentils and then to ensure they are soft
2 carrots, 2 sticks celery, 1 onion, piece of red pepper, all chopped finely
2 cloves garlic
1 red chilli
Ground cumin and tabasco
1 egg
Lentil Loaf
4 oz green lentils
8 oz red lentils
1 pint vegetable stock or as much as you need to cover the lentils and then to ensure they are soft
2 carrots, 2 sticks celery, 1 onion, piece of red pepper, all chopped finely
2 cloves garlic
1 red chilli
Ground cumin and tabasco
1 egg
- Wash the lentils and cook the green ones first in vegetable stock - after 15 minutes add the red ones and cook gently till they are all soft, about another 20 minutes. Add more liquid as you go along only if necessary.
- Fry the vegetables in oil or butter till fairly soft, adding the crushed garlic half way through. Add the chilli and some cumin near the end.
- When the lentils are cooked, drain if necessary but you should find the liquid has been absorbed.
- Mix the vegetables into the pulses, add a beaten egg and mix well.
- Now taste and add some drops of tabasco and more cumin if you like, plus salt and pepper.
- Pack the mixture into a well greased loaf tin and bake at No 5/190 for at least 35 - 45 minutes. You may need up to an hour. It just needs to be beginning to brown and look solid so you can (just) turn it out.
I made a basic tomato sauce with half an onion and 2 garlic cloves softened, a few cherry tomatoes and a packet of chopped ones in juice, simmered while the rest was cooking till thick and seasoned with herbs, S and P and a pinch of sugar.
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