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Roasted Carrot and Red Lentil Spread This spread is a twist on the red lentil hummus in my book Cannelle et Vanille. When I made this for friends this week, I didn’t weigh exact amounts of each ingredient so I am writing this a bit loosely. Many of you asked for the recipe after I posted on IG, so I thought I’d write down an approximate version of what I made. I topped the spread with the hazelnut dukkah recipe also from Cannelle et Vanille, then served it with beet sourdough bread slices (recipe will be in The Art of Gluten-Free Bread), a quick cucumber and spring onion pickle, soft-cooked eggs and some lightly dressed greens. This is such a good staple to serve many different ways - as a bed for roasted vegetables and meats, on toast with sliced tomatoes, you can also thin it out a bit with some stock and toss some pasta into it or the classic, as a snack with various crackers. A few notes about this recipe: - You can change up the spices for this recipe. If you don’t like saffron or cumin, you can omit them and simply roast the carrots with salt and pepper. It’s very flexible with the seasonings. The turmeric is mostly there to enhance the color. - Rinse the red lentils in abundant cold water until the water runs clear. It takes me about 5 to 6 rinses to feel like I am ready to cook them. - If you don’t want to use red lentils, you can simply use canned chickpeas. - If you follow the recipe as written below, your spread will be somewhat warm after you are done mixing it. As it cools, especially after refrigerated, the spread thickens. Simply loosen it with a bit of water if that’s the case. Serves 4 to 6 2 medium carrots, washed and cut into 1/2-inch thick rounds 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 cloves garlic, peeled 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided 1 cup (200 g) red lentils, rinsed 1/3 cup (90 g ) well-stirred tahini Juice of 1 lemon - Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Toss the chopped carrots, olive oil, garlic, cumin, saffron, turmeric, and half of the salt together on a baking sheet. Bake until carrots are tender and lightly caramelized, about 22 minutes. - While the carrots are roasting, combine the rinsed red lentils with 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Bring the water to a simmer over high heat, cover the pan, reduce heat to medium low and cook until red lentils are tender and the water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. - Combine the roasted carrots and cooked red lentils (with all the garlic and spices) in the food processor and puree until smooth, about 1 minutes. Add the tahini, lemon juice, and remaining salt and puree for another minute until very creamy and airy. Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning and add more lemon juice, if needed. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator tightly wrapped for up to a week.
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