Another recipe with my favorite herb – Grünkern bear leek patties

Hey there!

A strange not very commonly used grain has been sitting in my pantry for the longest time. I just couldn’t think of a good way to prepare this rather uncommon ingredient. I am referring to a spelt, which is harvested when it’s only half ripe and is known under the name Grünkern. I don’t think there’s an English translation even the English Wikipedia article about it refers to it as Grünkern. So I guess that’s what I’m going to call it from now on.

Since we’re still in the middle of the bear leek season I decided to create another recipe based around this wonderful herb. I decided to mix the Grünkern as well as the bear leek with lentils and salt and pepper and then I shaped the mixture into little patties.

I decided to serve those delicious patties alongside some roasted asparagus, which for me are another thing I just love during springtime. Since the Grünkern patties are on the drier side I also made a delicious avocado mousse, which formed the perfect flavour combination with those delicious patties.

This is a very light and amazing tasting dinner, which is just absolutely perfect for a lovely spring dinner. You could even use those patties if you wanted a vegan burger and serve them in a bun with the avocado mousse and some fresh veggies, this would actually super tasty as well. Yet when I was cooking this I didn’t have any bread rolls at home and I just couldn’t have been bothered to bake some myself.

Since I’m actually supposed to be preparing a presentation for my Italian class right now I’ll now leave you with the recipe so you can get cooking, enjoy!

• 100g grünkern
• 100g green lentils
• 30g bear leek
• 1 avocado
• 1lemon
• 800 g asparagus
• salt pepper
• balsamic
• olive oil
• 1tbs of flour
• water

1. Add the Grünkern and the lentils as well as 400ml of water into a saucepan and let it come to a boil.
2. When the water with the lentils and grünkorn has come to a boil lower the temperature to low and let it simmer covered for 25 minutes. Make sure to stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn.
3. Meanwhile you can coarsely chop up your bear leek and get your asparagus ready.
4. Preheat your oven to 190°. When your lentils and grünkorn are ready add them into a food processor together with the chopped bear leak, salt and pepper. Process until the mixture is still slightly chunky but everything is nicely chopped up.
   
5. Add 1tbs of flour to your mixture as well as 2-3 tbs of water. Mix until you can shape your mixture into small patties. I used a tablespoon to get them equally sized.
6. When you shaped all your patties put them on a lined baking sheet also put the asparagus on the baking sheet and drizzle with balsamic and olive oil and sprinkle some salt over it.
7. Bake the asparagus and the bear leek patties for 20 minutes in your preheated oven. Flip the patties halfway through the baking process so they’ll brown evenly.
8. While the patties and asparagus are baking. Add the flesh of your avocado as well as the juice of one lemon and salt to your food processor, also add about 2-4 tbs of water depending on how creamy you like your avocado mousse to be.

 

Voila, when your asparagus are tender and the bear leek patties nicely baked remove them from the oven and enjoy this light spring dinner with a lovely salad on the side. Distribute your avocado mousse on top of your other components and enjoy! This is such a delicious meal and it wasn’t even too difficult to prepare. I also like the fact that I could finally use some more of the Grünkorn I have been avoiding to use up for so long and luckily the end result turned out absolutely delightful. Have fun trying out this deliciousness!

Bisous