Smoked Lentil and Quinoa Fritas with Shoestring Fries & Grilled Onion Guacamole
Serves: 4
Chef Top Tip
"Fritas are Cuban style hamburgers usually made of meat and heavily flavoured with onion and garlic. This is a great vegetarian alternative, accompanied with a delicious grilled onion guacamole. Served in burger buns, they are always topped with thin julienne style (shoestring) fries. "
Ingredients
For the fritas:
- 150g puy lentils
- 700ml water
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 50g cooked quinoa
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- ½ tsp liquid pecan smoke
- ½ tsp mustard
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 egg
For the guacamole:
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- Juice of ½ lemon
- ½ tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 small red onion
- 100g diced avocado
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- ¼ tsp crushed chilli flakes
- 3 tbsp chopped coriander
- Lime juice to taste
For the shoestring fries:
- 2 potatoes, peeled & cut into julienne strips
- Sunflower oil for deep frying
To serve:
- 4 burger buns*, halved & toasted
- 4 large tomatoes, sliced
*Gluten free
Method
For the guacamole:
- In a bowl combine the oil, lemon juice, vinegar, pepper, cumin and salt. Cut the red onion into 5mm slices and place in the marinade for 1 hour.
- Drain the onion slices then grill for 3-4 minutes. Allow to cool, then chop coarsely and mix with the remaining guacamole ingredients. Set aside.
For the fritas:
- Cook the lentils in boiling water for 25 minutes or until tender, then drain and dry.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, add onion, garlic, cumin and cook until softened. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.
- Add the remaining fritas ingredients and bring the mixture together, shape into 4 large patties and chill thoroughly.
To serve:
- Fry the julienned potatoes in hot (200c) oil until golden and drain well on kitchen paper.
- Cook the fritas in a frying pan for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden.
- Place some sliced tomatoes in each toasted burger bap base, top with grilled onion guacamole and then the fritas.
- Pile in the shoestring fries and close the bun, enjoy!
All products marked in bold are available to purchase through Vegetarian Express.