Mercimek Köftesi Turkish Red Lentil Kofte (Vegan)

1. 1

   Boil the lentils in the water, uncovered, until they soak up most of the water, about 25-30 minutes.

2. 2

   Add the bulgar and salt. Mix once and loosely cover to let the bulgar expand, then remove from the heat and let rest on a potholder about 10 minutes to let it cool off.

3. 3

   Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the chopped onion and cook until soft, about 10-15 minutes.

4. 4

   Add the tomato paste and cook another 1-2 minutes.

5. 5

   Add the cumin and remove pan from heat. Stir once the heat is off.

6. 6

   Add the onion-tomato paste-cumin mixture to the pot with lentils and bulgar, which should be cool by now. Add a few shakes of cayenne pepper to heat it up if you like.

7. 7

   Add half of your parsley (about 1-1.5 tablespoons worth), the green onions, and lemon juice to the pot, and mix well.

8. 8

   Take pieces of the kofte out of the pot and form them into kofte shape. The same size and shape as a Twinkie works, though traditional kofte is about half the size of a Twinkie.

9. 9

   You can then arrange the lettuce leaves on a big plate and serve that way, but the real deal way to eat them is wrapping each kofte up in a lettuce leaf.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.