Red Lentil Burgers

Directions

• Add the lentils, water, salt and spices to a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft and breaking down.  Strain and leave to cool.
• While the lentils are cooking, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the carrots, onions and mushrooms.  I generally use a food processor to chop these very finely.  Fry them together for a few minutes, then add the salt and marjoram.  Fry for a few more minutes until the whole mixture is quite soft.
• Add the sherry and fry for a further minute or so – you want as little liquid as possible here, so fry gently until the mixture starts to dry out a little, or at least you don’t see any liquid. This is important as the burgers will be too soft if there’s too much liquid. Then remove to a bowl and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.  
• Add both mixtures together in a large mixing bowl and add the breadcrumbs.  The amount of breadcrumbs you need will depend somewhat on how much liquid you have in the mixture.  Mix well and check the consistency.  Add more breadcrumbs if required.  You will need to be able to form patties from the mixture which are not too wet and sticky.  One of the trickiest parts of this recipe is learning what is the right consistency.  Trial and error will help you learn this.  The mixture should not be too soft, nor too dry.
• Place the mixture in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to cool.  It should solidify slightly also which will make it easier to form the patties.
• Form into 8 good sized patties.  Coat the base of a frying pan in olive oil and fry gently for about 5 minutes each side or until golden brown.  It’s important to allow the patties to have enough time frying before you try to turn them or they’ll break.  Check carefully after about 3 minutes and if they look like they are brown and starting to crisp a little then carefully turn them.
• Serve with a nice tasty alioli sauce (garlic mayonnaise).