Nutritious nut roast

TOP TIP: To get the most nutrition out of your lentils, soak them for at least 8 hours before cooking. This inactivates the phytates that bind to minerals in the lentils, making it easier for your body to absorb the minerals. Plus, it makes it quicker to cook the lentils!

Ingredients

• 800g cooked (or canned) brown lentils
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus additional for brushing
• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 2 celery sticks, finely diced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1 red capsicum, finely diced
• 250g button mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 3 handfuls english spinach, roughly chopped
• 3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 300g mixed nuts, finely chopped
• 150g dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1 orange - zest and juice
• 3 eggs, whisked
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cook brown lentils in 3L water until soft and place aside to cool (note: cooking will only take a few minutes if you have soaked the lentils beforehand). If using canned lentils, rinse thoroughly and place aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and grease loaf tin with olive oil or line with baking paper.
3. Heat olive oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook for approximately 3 minutes (or until soft), stirring regularly.
4. Add carrot and capsicum and continue cooking until vegetables have softened, approximately 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
5. Next, add the mushrooms and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes or until the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, stirring regularly.
6. Add the spinach, parsley, rosemary, paprika and thyme and sauté for a further 2 minutes, stirring regularly.
7. In a large mixing bowl, add the cooked vegetable mix, cooked lentils, mixed nuts, dried apricots and orange zest and juice. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Remove ⅓ of the mixture from the bowl, and either puree it in a food processor, or mash it with a potato masher until it is as smooth as possible. 
9. Add the pureed/mashed mixture back into the rest of the mixture, along with the whisked eggs, and stir well to combine.
10. Transfer the mixture to the loaf tin, and pack it down firmly as you go with the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher. This will ensure it holds together when slicing later.
11. Cook the nut roast in the oven for 40 minutes, then remove and brush the top with olive oil to help it crispen up. 
12. Place back into the oven and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, or until the top is bubbling and golden and the roast is cooked through (you can test this by inserting a skewer into the middle of the nut roast and noting the temperature of the skewer when removed).
13. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and rest for 20 minutes.
14. Carefully lift the baking paper from each end and place the loaf onto a chopping board. Use a bread knife to slice the loaf to your desired thickness, and serve warm with gravy, mashed potatoes and steamed greens.

Serves 8-10.