Mercimek Koftesi - Red Lentil Patties

Today I decided to make a couple of my favorite Turkish dishes. These savory lentil patties are a mezze dish - a cold appetizer. They make a great meat-free meal on their own, served in lettuce leaves with a squeeze of lemon.

Ingredients



Red lentils - 1 cup
Fine bulgar - 1 cup
Tomato paste - 2 tablespoons
Green onions - 2 or 3, finely sliced
Parsley - 1/2 bunch, finely chopped
Cumin - 1 tsp
Salt and pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes (optional) - 2 tsp

Rinse the lentils and cook them in 3 cups of water for 10 minutes. Add the bulgar. Stir, cover and turn off the heat. Allow to sit for about 20 minutes.



Using a spoon, finely mash the lentils to a paste. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and chill for 1 hour. When chilled, form into patties. Chill until times to serve.






I like to serve mine with more garlic-dill yogurt.