Festive Lentil Loaf

Recipe by Recipe courtesy of A Virtual VeganCourse: DinnerCuisine: ChristmasDifficulty: Medium
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

10

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 small onion , chopped finely

  • 2 cloves garlic ,chopped finely

  • 1 cup cooked red lentils , weighed after cooking

  • 1 cup cooked green lentils , I like to use French green lentils but any will work (weighed after cooking)

  • 3 cups finely chopped mushrooms

  • ½ cup walnut pieces

  • 8 tablespoons ground flax seed

  • ½ cup flour, all purpose, oat, rice, spelt or wholewheat

  • 75g breadcrumbs (use gluten-free breadcrumbs if necessary).

  • ½ cup dried cranberries

  • ½ large apple , grated (no need to peel)

  • 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper

  • 1 tsp dried sage, 1 tsp dried thyme

  • 1 tsp dried rosemary

  • 1 tablespoon tamari soy or coconut aminos

  • For the cranberry topping
  • 2 cup cranberries , fresh or frozen

  • 4 tablespoons sugar , not brown sugar or coconut sugar

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 375°F
  • Add all of the ingredients (except the fresh/frozen cranberries and sugar) to a very large bowl and stir really well until combined. I find it easier to use clean hands to scrunch it all together and mix it.
  • Put the cranberries and the sugar in a small pan over a medium heat and just cook until the sugar is mostly dissolved and some juice is appearing in the bottom of the pan. It only takes 5 – 6 minutes. Then remove from the heat.
  • Grease a 1lb or similar loaf pan (about 8.5 inch x 4.5 inch or 9inch x 5inch) and line it with a strip of baking parchment going along the middle. (See my picture above). Leave some paper overhanging as it will make turning it out easier.
  • Spoon in the cranberries (you don’t have to wait for them to cool down but be careful as the sugary liquid will be very hot) and even them out a bit with a spoon.
  • Pack the lentil loaf mixture on the top. Really push it down all over and make sure it is even on the top.
  • Place the loaf pan on a baking tray (just in case the cranberry liquid spills over) and bake for 1hr – 1 hr 10 minutes. It should be golden and crusty looking on the top and coming away from the edges. There will probably be a little jammy red liquid oozing over the edge too.
  • Once done, leave to rest in the pan for 15-30 minutes (it will stay warm for up to an hour if you wrap it in some tin foil) before turning out and slicing.
  • To turn it out, put a plate or board on top of it then flip it over so the plate/board ends up on the bottom. It will slide out really easily but if you do have any trouble you can give a little tug on the parchment paper to ease it out. Once it’s out, gently peel back the parchment paper to reveal the pretty cranberry top.