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Polpette di lenticchie rosse

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I really like this dish, and I actually do it quite often. It's one of those recipes I have learnt through one of my vegan receipe books, and from that, I customised it a little bit. The only problem with these lentils mini balls is that they are quite thick in texture, so they need to be accompanied with a sauce. Some tips at the end of this recipe!

Ingredients (2 people)#

  • Split red lentils: 150 gr
  • Onion: 1 small, or half of a medium/big one
  • Chickpea flour (or breadcrumb): 1-2 tbsp
  • Nutritional yeast: 2 tbsp
  • Curry powder: 1/2 tsp
  • Smoked paprika: 1/2 tsp
  • Olive oil: 1 tbsp
  • Salt to taste
  • Sunflower oil, as needed

Method#

  1. Remember to soak the split lentils 1-2 hours before starting to cook. These lentils don't need to be cooked in hot water or pressure cooker, but they do need to be soaked to soften
  2. Put the following ingredients in a food processor: lentils, onion, curry, smoked paprika, olive oil. And blend!
  3. Once done, transfer the mixture into a big bowl, and add the chickpea flour and the nutritional yeast - and mix well with a spoon or spatula. The chickpea flour can be replaced by breadcrumb, but I don't usually have breadcrumb at home so I prefer to use chickpea flour. Also, sometimes if the mixture is already quite compact, you may need only one spoon of chickpea flour instead of two.
  4. Then prepare a soup plate with sunflower oil in it. Dirty your hands with oil, and start creating little balls with your hands. What I do, I dip them slighly into the oil and then rub the oil around them, whilst creating the shape.
  5. Put them in a baking tray with baking paper. And cook them in the oven with fan on, for 15 mins.
  6. Once they are ready, take them out of the over and leave them to rest for 5 mins - they will get to the right texture.
  7. Enjoy them with a sauce, and some salad or vegetables on the side.

Tips#

As a sauce, I recommend Babaganoush (but that takes some time to make), or yogurt sauce. But with Babaganoush they are just the best!