Serves 6-8

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 15 mins

Total time: 1 hour 35 mins

Ingredients

• 30ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 200g portobellini mushrooms, finely chopped
• 5ml (1 tsp) dried mixed herbs
• 5ml (1 tsp) smoked paprika
• 1 can (440g) lentils, drained
• 30ml (2 tbsp) tomato purée
• 100ml vegetable stock
• 200g breadcrumbs
• 150g mixed nuts such as walnuts, pecans, and Brazil nuts, roughly chopped
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 4 hardboiled eggs, peeled
• Sweet chilli sauce or chutney to serve (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, grease and line the sides of a loaf pan with baking paper.
2. Using half the olive oil, sauté the onion, celery, garlic and carrot in a large frying pan until soft, 4-5 minutes. Set aside. Using the remaining olive oil sauté the mushrooms with the herbs and paprika, approximately 3 minutes.
3. Return the onion mixture to the pan, add the lentils, tomato puree and stock, cook for 1-2 minutes until the liquid has evaporated, the mixture should be fairly dry. Remove from the heat, set aside to cool.
4. In a bowl combine the mushroom and lentil mixture with the breadcrumbs, nuts, beaten eggs and half the parsley. Gently combine, taking care not to break up the lentils too much. Add the seasoning and spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin, and gently press down. Place the hard-boiled eggs on top of the lentils. Cover with the remaining mixture and press down and smooth the top.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake for a further 20-25 minutes until set and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin before

turning out.

6. Serve in slices with green salad or veggies and garnished with chopped parsley. Serve with chutney or sweet chilli sauce.