Previous Next

1 / 5

Video recipe

About this recipe

✨

Recipe highlight

Why you’ll love it

Brown lentils, potatoes, garlic, paprika, parsley, and smoky ajvar tahini turn into crispy Balkan fasting cakes made for dipping. 🫘

Ingredients

• Lentil potato cakes 🫘
• 🫘 450 g cooked brown or green lentils, drained well (2½ cups / 15.9 oz)
• 🥔 500 g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (3½ cups / 1.1 lb)
• 🧅 180 g onion, finely chopped (1½ cups / 6.3 oz)
• 🥕 120 g carrot, finely grated (1 cup / 4.2 oz)
• 🧄 4 garlic cloves, finely grated (4 cloves / 0.7 oz)
• 🌾 70 g rolled oats, finely crushed, or breadcrumbs (¾ cup / 2.5 oz)
• 🌿 25 g fresh parsley, finely chopped (¾ cup loose / 0.9 oz)
• 🫒 45 ml olive oil (3 tbsp / 1.5 fl oz)
• 🌶️ 7 g sweet paprika (2½ tsp / 0.25 oz)
• 🌶️ 2 g smoked paprika (¾ tsp / 0.07 oz)
• 🧂 7 g fine sea salt (1¼ tsp / 0.25 oz)
• ⚫ 2 g black pepper (1 tsp / 0.07 oz)
• For crisping ✨
• 🌽 45 g fine cornmeal (⅓ cup / 1.6 oz)
• 🫒 35 ml olive oil, for brushing (2 tbsp + 1 tsp / 1.2 fl oz)
• 🌶️ 2 g sweet paprika (¾ tsp / 0.07 oz)
• 🧂 2 g fine sea salt (⅓ tsp / 0.07 oz)
• Ajvar tahini dip 🫑
• 🫑 120 g ajvar (½ cup / 4.2 oz)
• 🥄 55 g tahini (¼ cup / 1.9 oz) sesame
• 🍋 25 ml lemon juice (1 tbsp + 2 tsp / 0.85 fl oz)
• 🧄 1 garlic clove, finely grated (1 clove / 0.18 oz)
• 💧 45 ml cold water (3 tbsp / 1.5 fl oz)
• 🫒 10 ml olive oil (2 tsp / 0.35 fl oz)
• 🧂 1 g fine sea salt (⅛ tsp / 0.04 oz)
• 🌿 5 g fresh parsley, chopped (2 tbsp / 0.18 oz)
• To serve 🍋
• 🫑 Extra ajvar
• 🥗 Tomato cucumber salad
• 🍞 Warm flatbread or crusty bread gluten
• 🍋 Lemon wedges
• 🌿 Extra parsley

Preparation

• 1 Boil the potatoes 🥔 Place the potatoes in a pot of salted water. Bring to a boil and cook for 16 min, until tender. Drain well, let them steam dry for 3 min, then mash until mostly smooth.
• 2 Cook the vegetable base 🧅 Heat 25 ml olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and cook for 8 min, stirring often, until soft and lightly golden. Add garlic and cook for 40 sec.
• 3 Mash the lentils 🫘 Place the drained lentils in a wide bowl and mash about half of them with a fork. Keep some lentils whole so the cakes have a rustic texture instead of becoming too smooth.
• 4 Mix the cake base 🌿 Add mashed potatoes, cooked onion and carrot, parsley, crushed oats or breadcrumbs, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, salt, black pepper, and the remaining olive oil. Mix until the mixture holds together when pressed.
• 5 Rest the mixture 🛋 Let the mixture rest for 10 min. This gives the oats time to absorb moisture and helps the cakes keep their shape during baking.
• 6 Shape the cakes ✋ Divide the mixture into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a thick oval or round cake, about 2 cm thick (¾ in). Place them on a parchment-lined tray.
• 7 Coat for crispness 🌽 Mix cornmeal, sweet paprika, and salt on a plate. Brush each cake lightly with olive oil, then press both sides gently into the cornmeal mixture for a thin crisp coating.
• 8 Bake until golden 🔥 Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 24 min, turning once halfway through, until the cakes are golden, firm, and crisp around the edges.
• 9 Mix the dip 🫑 While the cakes bake, whisk ajvar, tahini, lemon juice, grated garlic, cold water, olive oil, salt, and parsley until smooth, creamy, and smoky. Add 15 ml extra water only if the dip is too thick. 🔟 Serve warm 🍋 Let the cakes rest for 5 min, then serve warm with ajvar tahini dip, extra parsley, lemon wedges, salad, and bread.

Timing details

Nutrition

Estimated values per serving.

Tips & variations

More from this category

Share & Print