Lentil Peanut Burger Patty Melt with Crispy Sage

By Bibigallini

The combination of the ketchup and sage and the peanut flavor of the patty make this patty melt something special and delicious.

Lentils are used in the patty because they have a hearty flavor, but they also puree into a very thick
batter. Peanuts are added as a binder so that the pureed lentils can retain their shape, but also
because the flavor goes very well with the ketchup and sage. The peanuts should be raw so that they
have the most binding power.

The sage is added, not only because the sage flavor complements the patty, but because it gives a
unique twist on the classic patty melt.

Ingredients

• THE PATTY
• cups 1 ½ cups of water
• cup ¾ cup of brown lentils
• 1 tbsp. of smoked paprika
• Option: 2 tbsp. of fresh oregano
• tsp. ½ tsp. of salt
• cup ½ cup of raw, unsalted peanuts
• Option: 2 tbsp. of oil for sautéing the patties
• THE REST OF THE PATTY MELT
• 3 ‐4 tbsp. of chopped sage
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp. of oil
• 4 slices of vegan cheese
• 6 ‐8 tbsp. of ketchup
• 8 slices of toasted bread (roasted garlic bread works incredibly well)

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 75mins
Adapted from veganculinaryexperience.com

Preparation

Step 1

MAKINGTHEPATTIES
Bring 1½ cups of water to a boil.
Add the lentils, smoked paprika, and optional oregano and stir.
Return to a boil, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low.
Cook the lentils for about 20 minutes.
Once they are done cooking, add the salt and peanuts.
Puree the mix, but don’t worry about getting it perfectly smooth.
The lentil/peanut mix should be fairly dense and tight and should have some peanut chunks for texture.
If you need to tighten the mix more, you can add more peanuts.
Once the mix cools, form it into patties.

Baking Method: Lightly oil a baking dish, place the patties in it, cover the dish, and bake the
patties on 350 for 30 minutes.

Sautéing Method: Bring 2 tbsp. of oil to just above a medium heat and fry the patties on each
side until lightly browned.

FINISHINGTHEPATTYMELT
Chop the sage.
Slice the onion.
Over a medium high heat, fry the sage in the oil until it crisps.
Remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon.
Add the onion to the pan and sauté it until it lightly browns.
Remove that from the pan.
Reduce the heat to medium‐low.
Add the patties to the pan and top each with a slice of vegan cheese.
Cover the pan and wait about 1 minute for the cheese to melt.
Toast the bread.
Place each patty on a slice of bread, then ketchup, then onion, then the sage, and then top with another slice of bread.

RAWVERSION
You can make a great raw version of this using sprouted lentils and raw peanuts. Use 1 cup of sprouted lentils and puree all the ingredients for the patties. Add a touch of water if necessary to create a thick, tight “dough.” Dehydrate this on 104 degrees for 6 hours with an herbed chive spread and chopped sage on top. Once the patty is done, top with a few sliced onions and place between some raw bread or thick raw flax seed onion crackers.

TIMEMANAGEMENT
You can get the sage and onion done and the bread toasted while the lentils are cooking, so that once the patties are done, it only takes a few minutes to assemble the patty melts. There are a couple tricks to working with the lentil dough. First, puree it with the peanuts as soon as possible once it comes off the heat. The lentils will be hot, they’ll soften the peanuts a bit, and make it easier to puree. Once you’re done with that, allow the mix to sit so it can cool. Not only does this make it easier to work with, it tightens the dough. Stir the mix a bit as it cools to quickly release heat. If you like these lentil/peanut patties, you can make an extra‐large batch and store the dough wrapped in plastic. It will last for a couple weeks in the refrigerator and will be ready to be quickly formed into patties.

The peanuts should be raw so that they have the most binding power. Salt is added after the lentils are cooked because salt added at the beginning will toughen the lentils and prolong their cook time. The patties should then either be baked or sautéed to help the patty set and meld all the flavors.

The sage is cooked before the onions because it minimizes the amount of oil used in the recipe. The sage uses very little of the oil, leaving enough in the pan to finish off the onion. However, if the onion was cooked fist, most of the oil would leave the pan with
the onion and there wouldn’t be enough to crisp the sage.