Lentil Loaf

Gather ingredients and preheat oven to 350℉.

Roughly chop mushrooms, carrots, and sun dried tomatoes to give your food processor a little extra help and ensure that the fresh ingredients are about the same size once processed.

First, process the carrots until they are shredded, with no pieces larger than ¼ inch.

Set aside processed carrots and add the mushrooms to the empty food processor. Pulse until crumbly and roughly the same size as the carrots.

Add 1 Tbsp olive oil (or sun dried tomato oil, if you have it!) to a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, carrots, ½ a finely diced onion, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and cook over medium heat while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, stirring occasionally.

In the same food processor, add half the cooked lentils, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, and walnuts. Process to combine.

You will notice the sauté pan is starting to look pretty juicy! The mushrooms have begun to release water, creating the perfect amount of moisture to keep your lentil loaf nice and juicy.

Add the rest of the whole lentils, ground flaxmeal, 2 Tbsp ketchup, breadcrumbs, and 1 Tbsp soy sauce. Stir to combine.

Next, add the sun dried tomato lentil mixture from the food processor and cook, stirring often, for another 10-15 minutes over medium heat. The mixture will soak up all of the juices from the mushrooms, and the flax will begin to help bind the lentils and veggies together, creating a dough-like paste.

Remove the cooked lentil mixture from the heat and allow it to cool for 10 or so minutes so it’s easy to handle. Meanwhile, mix the ½ cup ketchup, brown sugar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and Dijon mustard together and set aside.

Once the lentil mixture has cooled, form it into a loaf on a parchment-lined baking sheet. My loaf was roughly 9.5” long, 6” wide, 1.5” tall. This is a hearty meal, and it feeds a crowd!

Using a spoon or an elevated spatula, cover the lentil loaf with the prepared sauce, being careful to lightly cover the sides, but taking special care to make sure you have no bare spots on top.

Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with minced parsley. Let it cool for 10 minutes or so before slicing and serving!