Name: Mexican Spiced Red Lentil Tostadas
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 250 g broken red lentils; 3 tablespoons cold-pressed sesame oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 3 cloves garlic, crushed; 2 teaspoons each ground cumin and smoked paprika; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 8 corn tostada shells; as needed lime, shredded lettuce, and salsa, to serve; to taste salt

Before you cook

This is not a bean substitute pretending to be beans. Red lentils cook faster and mash smoother, and the spicing is built around that difference.

Fry the mashed lentils briefly at the end. It drives off excess moisture and the topping stops soaking through the tostada shell.

Method

Rinse the lentils and simmer them in plenty of water until fully soft.
Drain well, reserving a little of the cooking liquid separately.
Warm the oil and cook the onion until soft and lightly coloured.
Add garlic, cumin and smoked paprika, stirring one minute until fragrant.
Stir in the tomato paste and cook it briefly to lose the raw taste.
Add the drained lentils and mash them roughly in the pan.
Fry the mash for five minutes, stirring often, until it thickens further.
Loosen with the reserved liquid if it turns too stiff to spread.
Season with salt and a squeeze of lime just before serving.
Spread thickly on warm tostada shells and top with lettuce and salsa.

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