Lentil rissoles

This is from a booklet of recipes produced by residents and friends of the Hillsborough Heights Village Residents Association. It’s a little more contemporary than many of the books I consult for this page each week, but there’s no doubt that many of the people who supplied their favourite recipes are nanas. This healthy and tasty variation on the traditional mince rissole is credited to Pamela Howard and is absolutely delicious. Great if you have vegetarians in the family.

2 tbsp oil

1 onion, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

250g lentils

1 tsp ground coriander

Salt and pepper

600ml water

Handful of parsley, chopped

175g breadcrumbs

2 tbsp flour

1 egg

1 Heat the oil in a saucepan, then cook the onion, celery and carrots until soft.

2 Add the lentils, coriander, seasoning and water. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3 Take off the heat and mix in the parsley and enough breadcrumbs to make a thick mixture.

4 Turn out onto a plate to cool. When cool, shape into about 6 large rissoles.

5 Coat with the flour, dip in the beaten egg, then coat with the rest of the breadcrumbs. Refrigerate until ready to cook. Fry in more oil until crisp – they won’t take long as everything is already cooked.

TO SERVE

Just about any sauce is good with these – tomato, chilli or Worcestershire. They’re also delicious with plain yoghurt.