This is a wonderful plant based recipe that can be used in a variety of ways. These plant based (meat-free) nuggets can be eaten in the following ways :

1. With a salad and a tahini dressing
2. As a protein based snack with a tahini dressing
3. As croutons with a soup
4. As plant-balls in a tomato sauce with courgetti pasta

Ingredients, serves 4

220g red lentils
60g red lentil flour * (see tip) alternative 60g oats or 60g chickpea flour
1 medium red onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 handful spinach (optional)
sea salt and pepper

Method

1. Add 200g whole lentils to a pan with 500ml of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, so that the lentils are cooked, but still whole. Drain well and allow to cook slightly.
2. To make the red lentil flour, add 60g lentils to a small blender or bullet blender and grind for 30 seconds until you have a fine flour. If you do not have a blender use porridge oats or chickpea flour instead.
3. Turn oven onto 210°C fan.
4. In a frying pan, gently sauté the onions and crushed garlic for 5 minutes in the olive oil on a medium high heat. After 5 minutes add the paprika and cayenne and stir for 1 minute before adding the spinach and allow to ‘sweat’ for 1 minute.
5. Off the heat, add the well drained lentils to the frying pan with the lentil flour, salt, pepper and tomato puree. Mix thoroughly and allow to cool.
6. When cool, roll into 16 evenly sized balls and pop on to a greased baking sheet.
7. Bake in the oven for 20—25 minutes until crispy on the outside.
8. Decide how you want to eat them!

The red lentils count as your protein in your meal. A normal portion size is 4 Polpette per person.

Tahini Dressing

Tahini is a sesame seed paste used in Middle eastern cooking. It is the seed equivalent of a nut butter. Tahini is one of the richest plant based sources of calcium. If you are excluding milk or dairy from your diet, tahini is a diet essential. This creamy sauce can liven up any salad.
Serving size for Renew Reset Recharge® 25g/ml

Ingredients, makes 175ml, can easily be doubled
30g Tahini
2 tablespoons tamari sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Juice 1 lemon or 50ml Sicilian lemon juice
1 clove garlic
10g fresh ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Method

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender and blitz until smooth and creamy.

Stores well in the fridge in a sealed jam jar.

Tomato and Carrot Soup with Polpette

This soup is gorgeous. I make it with fresh tomatoes, carrots, a few red lentils and some cayenne pepper. Add the Polpette at the end so that they stay crispy. I have topped this soup off with swirls of fresh pesto.

Ingredients, serves 4

30ml  extra virgin olive oil
½ white onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
40g dried red lentils
400g fresh vine tomatoes, roughly chopped or 1 tin of tomatoes
4 large carrots, peeled and grated
400ml vegetable stock
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan and gently sauté the onions in the olive oil for two minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further two minutes or until onions are soft and tender.
2. Add the grated carrots and the chopped tomatoes and sauté for a further two minutes
3. Add the lentils, vegetable stock, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. If you are using ground lentils, sprinkle them in slowly while stirring to avoid clumping!
4. Simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils are soft.
5. When slightly cooled use a purée stick to blend or transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth.