Lentil & Walnut Loaf

Lentil & Walnut Loaf is an easy, tasty, and nutritious vegetarian bake. Tinned lentils speed up the prep so you can get this herby, chewy loaf in the oven in around twenty minutes.

Bake for an hour and serve hot with roast potatoes and veggies, or eat cold in sandwiches or with salad.

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Despite giving up vegetarianism (and then veganism) over thirty years ago, I still often enjoy a good veggie bake.

A favourite is my Lentil, Mushroom & Cheese Bake, full of rich, savoury flavour.

Although the recipe I want to share with you today is also based on lentils, the result is quite different.

SPEEDY TINNED LENTILS

The cheesy mushroom lentil bake linked to above is quite a soft dish, containing simmered split red lentils. But my Lentil & Walnut Loaf is based on whole brown lentils and has a much firmer consistency.

This means it can be sliced as a veggie alternative to my Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf. As tinned brown lentils are now widely available, I take advantage of these to speed up the prep.

LENTIL & WALNUT LOAF

I think you should easily be able to get my Lentil & Walnut Loaf in the oven within fifteen to twenty minutes.

You start off by sautéing onion, celery and garlic in olive oil and butter (see tip below for making this recipe entirely plant-based) until soft and brown. Towards the end, I add two teaspoons of mixed herbs: thyme, sage, rosemary, and oregano.

The mixture is then simply combined with the rest of the ingredients.

These are:

• a tin of brown lentils, drained
• 100 grams of walnuts, chopped or pulverized in a blender or grinder
• soft breadcrumbs (I turn the crusty ends of my homemade bread into breadcrumbs and store in the freezer until needed)
• chopped fresh parsley
• soy sauce (gives a lovely umami-rich flavour)
• 1 egg (see below for plant-based alternative)

Make sure you stir everything together really well then pack it into a small, greased loaf tin. To help turn out the loaf later, I first put a strip of foil along the bottom, making sure it comes up higher than the short sides. At first, you might think it’s not all going to fit in. But trust me, press down well with the back of a spoon and it will! Making it nice and compact will also make your loaf firmly sliceable.

Before popping in the oven, put another piece of foil on top to keep the bake moist while it cooks.

And that’s it. There’s nothing else to do but bake for exactly one hour.

PLANT-BASED VERSION

To make Lentil & Walnut Loaf completely plant-based, you can leave out the butter and add more olive oil.

You can also replace the egg by mixing up one ‘flax egg’ i.e. mix one tablespoon of milled flaxseed with three tablespoons of boiling water from a kettle. Leave until gel like (approx. 1 minute) then mix into the rest of the ingredients.

This recipe has NOT BEEN TESTED with a flax egg so the final result may not be exactly the same.

SERVING LENTIL & WALNUT LOAF

Before turning the loaf out of the tin, leave it on a cooling rack for a couple of minutes.

Then you can lift it out using the ends of the foil strip or just carefully tip onto a board.

I like to cut the Lentil & Walnut Loaf into thick slices, two or three per person.

The loaf should serve three people easily, more if you’re a less greedy household than mine!

My favourite way to eat this chewy, herby bake is with roast potatoes and veggies. I sometimes make a gravy or mushroom sauce to go with it, but it isn’t entirely necessary if you have buttery veg.

Here we ate it with Hasselback style potatoes brushed with mixture of melted butter, olive oil and garlic then roasted until crispy.

For the veggies, I sauteed sweetheart cabbage and grated apple in butter and olive oil. I seasoned it with fennel seeds plus a little cider vinegar for tanginess.

Leftovers are great served cold with salad or in a sandwich.

Here I ate leftovers in a sandwich of wholemeal bread, shredded spinach, grated carrot, apple slices, red onion and garlicky mayo. Yum!

The bake can also be frozen, defrosted overnight then reheated.

Either ping in the microwave or cover and put in a low oven until piping hot.

Whether you’re a vegetarian or just looking to include more vegetarian meals in your omnivorous diet, I think you’ll enjoy tasty, nutritious and easy Lentil & Walnut Loaf.

Made this recipe? Leave a comment below and don’t forget to rate it!

5 from 2 votes

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Lentil & Walnut Loaf

An easy, tasty and nutritious vegetarian bake.

Serve hot with roast potatoes and veggies, or cold in sandwiches or with salad.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Vegetarian

Keyword pulses, beans, nuts

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Servings 3 - 4

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 15 g butter
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 1 stick celery finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• salt and black pepper
• 2 tsp mixed dried herbs e.g. thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano
• 250 g cooked brown or green lentils approx 1 standard tin after draining
• 100 g walnuts finely chopped or ground in a blender
• 80 g breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 large egg

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 190C / 170 Fan / Gas 4

   Use some of the butter to grease a small loaf tin (approx 19 x 9 x 6 cm, capacity 800ml or 1 lb).

   Put a long strip of greased foil along the bottom of the tin so that it comes up above the short sides: this will make it easier to turn the loaf out.

2. Put the olive oil and butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat.

   When the butter has melted, add the chopped onion, celery and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until soft and lightly browned (10-15 min), adding the dried herbs for the final minute.

   Take the pan off the heat.

3. Put the drained lentils, chopped walnuts and breadcrumbs into a mixing bowl.

   Add the cooked onion mixture to the bowl along with the chopped parsley, soy sauce and a good grind of black pepper.

   Stir everything together then taste: add salt, more pepper and/or soy sauce if needed.

   Crack the egg into the bowl and stir to thoroughly combine.

4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin, pressing it down well and smoothing the top. It may look like it won't all fit in: it will if pressed down firmly enough.

   Cover with a piece of buttered foil then put into the oven.

   Bake for exactly 1 hour then remove from the oven.

5. Leave to stand for 2-3 minutes before turning out, slicing and serving.

   Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days or frozen.

   Reheat in a microwave or covered in a low oven. Can also be eaten cold.

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