Vegetable Crumble
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This is a hearty winter-warming vegetarian crumble, into which many seasonal allotment vegetables work well. It is derived from a 1980s vegetarian cookbook by Sarah Brown. All rights gratefully acknowledged.
It has lots of great attributes. • Its easy to make and can be prepped in advance. • It tastes so great that even non-vegetarians love it. • Brilliant with winter allotment vegetables. • You can get really creative with the crumble topping! I make it in a 22cm cast iron Le Creuset. Serves 4 |
Photo credit: "Vegetable crumble 2" by Buntworthy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
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Ingredients:
I’ve used carrots, beetroot, parsnips, swede, turnips, sweet potato, fennel, leeks, celery and, always, onions. Cauliflower also works well, as does throwing in some leftover cooked waxy potatoes. Highly recommended is adding some chopped kale, stalks and all, but save them til you are assembling and mix in just before the topping goes on, as it wont need much cooking.
Spices:
N.B. heaped teaspoons full! You might decide you want more spice, but try with these quantities first:
You’ll also need:
Crumble Topping:
- About 2kg of mainly root vegetables:
I’ve used carrots, beetroot, parsnips, swede, turnips, sweet potato, fennel, leeks, celery and, always, onions. Cauliflower also works well, as does throwing in some leftover cooked waxy potatoes. Highly recommended is adding some chopped kale, stalks and all, but save them til you are assembling and mix in just before the topping goes on, as it wont need much cooking.
Spices:
N.B. heaped teaspoons full! You might decide you want more spice, but try with these quantities first:
- 3 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons coriander
- 1 teaspoons turmeric
- ½ teaspoon chilli powder
- 5 to 6cm of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
You’ll also need:
- salt and pepper to seasonal
- oil, rapeseed works well, but use what you have
- 400ml vegetable stock or a mixture of stock and tinned tomatoes
- some tomato puree
- fresh coriander leaves to garnish (you can chop the stalks and add to the vegetables)
- natural yogurt to spoon over at the table
Crumble Topping:
- 75 to 100g flour, such as wholemeal, spelt, fine milled oat bran or any mixture thereof
- 75g jumbo porridge oats
- 50g butter
- 2 tablespoons oil
Method:
Vegetables:
Crumble topping:
You can get creative and experiment with other flours, grains and seeds. The crumble mixture can be made in advance and kept in the fridge.
Assembly and cooking:
Ewan
2020
Vegetables:
- First prepare the vegetables by peeling, if required and chopping into about 2cm rough chunks. Not too small is best.
- Heat the oil in your casserole and add your chopped onions and garlic, frying until soft.
- Add in all of the spices, adding more oil if necessary and let the spices fry for 5 minutes, stirring all the time, to bring out their flavour. Then add the grated ginger and stir in well.
- Now, add in the chopped vegetables and cook for for another 2 minutes before adding in the tomato puree, most of the stock and season well. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes, adding some more stock if required. You are looking for just cooked and no more. Add kale at this point if using. If you feel that there is too much liquid, spoon off the excess and save for use as sauce at the table. The liquid should be below the level of the vegetables.
Crumble topping:
- Put 75g flour in a mixing bowl and rub in the butter.
- Stir in the porridge oats and mix in the oil. Season to taste.
- If you feel that the mix is too sticky, add some more flour.
You can get creative and experiment with other flours, grains and seeds. The crumble mixture can be made in advance and kept in the fridge.
Assembly and cooking:
- Sprinkle the crumble over the cooked vegetables and bake for 25-30 minutes at 190 centigrade, til golden brown.
- Serve immediately with a spoonful of natural yogurt and some chopped fresh coriander leaves.
Ewan
2020
