Vegeburgers
Submitted by chille37
Green lentil veggie burgers with grated carrots, breadcrumbs, garlic, and parsley, bound with egg and grilled. Served with a quick homemade tomato sauce over brown rice.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
40 minThese vegetarian burgers are built on green lentils, mashed just enough to hold together while keeping some whole lentils for texture. Grated carrots, fresh breadcrumbs, chopped onion, garlic, and parsley round out the patties, with egg binding everything into a shape that holds up under the grill.
The partial mashing is the key technique. Go too far and you get paste. Leave too many whole and the burgers fall apart. You want a mix: some mashed lentils to act as glue, some whole ones for a bite that feels satisfying rather than mushy.
Coat the formed patties in flour before grilling. This creates a thin outer crust that keeps them from sticking and adds a lightly crisp surface.
The recipe includes a bonus homemade tomato sauce to serve alongside over brown rice. Tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, and tomato paste simmered down for 15 minutes. Reduce it until thick enough to coat the rice without making it soupy.
Kitchen Tips
- Drain the boiled lentils well. Excess water makes the mixture too wet to form patties.
- Grate the carrots finely so they blend into the mixture rather than sticking out and weakening the structure.
- Grill (broil) for a full 5 minutes per side without moving them. Flipping too early tears the patties apart.
- If the mixture feels too loose to shape, chill it in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up.
Variations
- Add a teaspoon of cumin and a pinch of chili flakes for a spiced lentil burger.
- Swap green lentils for red lentils for a softer, more mash-friendly patty.
- Serve in a bun with lettuce, tomato, and a smear of hummus instead of over rice.
Ingredients
Directions
Boil lentils for 20 minutes in water, drain, and mash gently - not too hard, as you want some of them to stay whole.
While they are cooking, peel and grate the carrots, make the bread into crumbs, and finely chop the onion, parsley and garlic.
Mix these and the seasoning with the mashed lentils, and bind together with egg.
Form into burgers or rissoles or whatever you call the things, coat with flour and cook under the grill (broiler) for 5 minutes each side.
*Tomato sauce made like this: 1 onion 1 clove garlic 1 tablespoon tomato purée (paste) 1 tin tomatoes A little extra water Seasoning.
Microwave onion and garlic for about 3 minutes; transfer to saucepan with the tomato purée, stir, add tinned tomatoes and a little water, season, bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.
If it’s a bit liquid, boil harder to reduce - get it to the sort of consistency you would like, bearing in mind you have brown rice to moisten!
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