Lentil Rolls

These amazing little rolls are so incredibly simple to make -- and they are not only gluten-free, but also entirely grain-free, nut-free, oil-free and sugar free!  They don't even need salt in the recipe -- but you can sprinkle it on lightly after you cut them open if you think they need it.

My friend Nina emailed me one day asking if I had seen any of the buzz on the internet about making bread rolls from red lentils, and telling me that she had been making them and really liked them. 

She sent me a couple of videos showing different recipes for them -- and that's all it took, I was off and playing around with this entirely new idea.

I have now come up with two different versions of my own that I really like.  The first is the simplest and it is just a very plain lentil roll.  Following this recipe, I will post (in a separate post below this one) my "Chedda" Biscuit version.
Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
 2 cups red lentils (picked over, rinsed, then soaked in water for 3 hours)
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup psyllium powder (use powder not whole husks)
1 TBS onion powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup water
1 TBS raisins
1/4 cup lemon juice


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. F and place either a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper onto a cookie tray and set aside.
2. Place the flax seed, psyllium powder, onion powder, and baking soda into large bowl and mix well with a wire whisk or fork, and set aside
   
3. Place the water, raisins and lemon juice into a powerful blender and blend on high for about a minute until raisins are completely broken into tiny bits you can't see.
   
4. Fill a separate bowl with about 2 cups of tap water and set it on the counter near where the prepared cookie tray is -- you will use it to dip your hands into before forming each roll so they don't stick to your hands.
5. Thoroughly drain the lentils in a strainer and add them to the blender, with the lemon juice and blend on high for a couple of minutes until creamy, then pour this mix into the bowl of dry ingredients and quickly mix with a spatula just enough so there is nothing dry left.
6. Working quickly, dip your hands into the water and then use the spatula to grab about 2-3 TBS of the lentil "dough" and place it into your wet hands -- toss it back and forth rolling it into a ball and then set it onto the tray.  Wet your hands and repeat this until you have used up all the batter, leaving about 1 inch of room between the rolls.
   
7.  Pop the tray into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes just until they begin to brown.  Let them cool before slicing and they will firm up inside.