Festive Lentil Loaf
Course: DinnerCuisine: ChristmasDifficulty: MediumServings
6
servingsPrep time
20
minutesCooking time
1
hour10
minutesIngredients
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.
