Red Lentils Stuffed Quinces

A delicious stuffed quince recipe with red lentils, grape tomatoes and dill. It's easy to make, and very tasty, verstatile and filling--a perfect Fall meal. Like apples and pears, quinces are great to use for the savoury dishes. In this easy stuffed quince recipe, the fruit is first poached in lemon water, then stuffed and baked. It's very difficult to hollow out raw quinces as they are hard, so poach them until soft before you can cut them up and stuff them, but you can do this in advance.


10 Quinces (small-medium) 2 tbsp Freshly squeezed lemon juice 200 g Red lentils 3 tbsp Olive oil 1 tbsp Tomato paste 1 Red onion, peeled and diced 1 clove Garlic, finely chopped 150 g Grape tomatoes, chopped 1 1/2 tsp Baharat, or more as needed 1 Lime, juiced 3 tbsp Dill, chopped Salt and pepper to taste

Rub off the fuzz of quinice with a piece of kitchen paper. Wash and dry the quinces. Place them in a large saucepan. Fill in enough water to cover the fruit. Stir in lemon juice. Bring it to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes until the quinces become soft. Drain and leave to cool to room-temperature. Reserve the quince water to cook lentils.
When the quinces are cool enough to handle, cut off the top third of the quinces. Remove cores of quinices and carefully remove the flesh with a metal spoon to create a cavity, leaving about 1/2 cm thick wall. Arrange them in one large or two standard-size baking pans. Discard the cores and pips. Chop quince pulp, then use for the filling.
Cook the red lentils in quince water for 10 minutes. They shouldn’t be mushy at this stage. Drain and set aside.
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add in tomato paste and cook briefly. Add in chopped onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until caramelized. Stir in reserved quince flesh and red lentils. Turn off the heat. Add in baharat, lime juice, dill and toss everything together. Taste and season.
Spoon the lentil filling into each quince and top with cut-off lids. Drizzle a remaining tablespoon of olive oil over. Cover with foil. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove foil. Roast for a further 20-30 minutes until soft and lightly brown. Sprinkle the stuffed quinces with extra dill and serve warm or at room temperature.

36 comments:

foodtravelandwine 19/10/22 22:48: It looks delicious!.....what a great combination!!!.......Abrazotes, Marcela
Tom 19/10/22 22:49: ...festive colors!
DEZMOND 19/10/22 22:49: Red lentils are an absolute staple in my kitchen, could not live without them.
Brian's Home Blog 20/10/22 00:08: I never had a quince but they do look interesting.
My name is Erika. 20/10/22 00:18: I think I've mentioned that I've never had a quince, but this sounds interesting. I think this might also be delicious with apples. hugs-Erika
Anonymous 20/10/22 01:54: I have never seen a recipe like this- it is so interesting. We do not have a lot of quince here but occasionally they show up but are very expensive. It looks so delicious. I'll keep this recipe in case I ever get a hold of quince. It's Judee from Gluten Free A-Z Blog.
J.P. Alexander 20/10/22 03:51: Es una receta diferente. Me gusta las lentejas. Te mando un beso.
Citu 20/10/22 03:55: Gracias por la receta. Adoro las lentejas. Te mando un beso.
Raymund 20/10/22 04:20: They do look good, now I am hungry
Christine 20/10/22 04:53: Delicious
Sherry's Pickings 20/10/22 05:38: this is an incredibly interesting recipe Angie. Not easy to get quinces here in Queensland. I suppose you could use apples or even red onions?
Grace 20/10/22 05:57: Angie; has venido con una gran originalidad!
No imagino este sabor. Pero se apetece muy interesante y como explicas, tal vez funcione con otras frutas.
Muchísimas gracias.
Recibe un gran abrazo.
Angie's Recipes 20/10/22 07:12: @Sherry's Pickings Sure, or even bell peppers. But the star here is quince.
Margaret D 20/10/22 07:25: These look amazing.
Lola Martínez 20/10/22 07:58: Me gustan mucho los membrillos, pero solo los cocino en mermelada o compota. Es una receta muy de otoño la que nos traes, junto a las lentejas haces de ella un plato muy completo y diferente para mi. Voy tomando nota.
Un beso.
Irma 20/10/22 09:11: This looks delicious.
I always make a lentil soup with lentils, which is really a whole meal, add some baguette and ready.
Greetings Irma
Nancy Chan 20/10/22 09:57: I have never seen a quince before. Looks good.
roentare 20/10/22 10:18: Quinces look like little money pockets. So exquisite looking!
Anonymous 20/10/22 13:05: Hi Angie, I don't know if I can get quinces but I might try this in peppers. What is Baharat? Bernadette, http://newclassicrecipe.com
Angie's Recipes 20/10/22 13:54: @Anonymous Bernadette, Baharat is a Middle Eastern spice mix.
bread&salt 20/10/22 14:51: This looks delicious! Here, we call all spices as "Baharat". But i think this baharat is different and looks new for us.
easyfoodsmith 20/10/22 15:21: Sounds delicious and a hearty meal.
Pam 20/10/22 17:53: They look and sound very tasty.
Bill 20/10/22 18:00: Never has quince before but it looks great.
Rainbow Evening 20/10/22 22:37: Red lentil is new for me...
sound good and yummy
Ben | Havocinthekitchen 21/10/22 00:57: I love quinces, but I always used them in sweet/sour recipes - and I never even imagined stuffing them with a savoury mixture. How interesting and unique!
Anonymous 21/10/22 02:56: I just wanted to let you know that I am still posting on my blog but for some reason my rss has stopped connecting and feeding it to the Reading List. I'm trying to figure it out. It stopped about a week ago. If you have any suggestions for fixing the problem, I would appreciate. Meanwhile don't forget about me! thanks.
gluten Free A_Z Blog 21/10/22 02:57: @AnonymousIt is Judee from Gluten Free A-Z Blog
Rose world 21/10/22 03:55: I rarely take lentils. Of course, when go to Indian outlets, then get to taste their lentil soup and dish.
tigerfish 22/10/22 00:07: Have not tried quince before and don't see it widely available here as well.
Federica Simoni 22/10/22 15:28: Devono essere buonissime!!
Muriel 23/10/22 23:25: Hummm! une belle découverte gourmande cette recette salée-sucrée !
The Velvet Runway 25/10/22 19:38: This looks delicious! I love lentils and they're so healthy!
Julia x
Valentina 27/10/22 04:36: What a unique dish. Delicious flavors and a beautiful presentation. :-) ~Valentina
Noob Cook 31/10/22 06:37: I’m learning a lot of new things from your blog every time I am here!
Anonymous 31/10/22 18:02: I do love your creativity Angie. You are such an inspiration. This sounds delicious indeed. Trying to cut raw quinces is a real feat, so poaching them first sounds very sensible.

Choclette x