Who ever said crumble had to be sweet? Savoury crumbles are one of my favourite things to eat -crumbly, cheesy, nutty, and full of flavoursome vegetables. For some reason, I always associate crumble with the cold weather. It’s a really hearty and satisfying meal, and pure comfort food for me. The beauty of crumble is that you can adapt the base layer to whatever you have in the fridge. You could mix it up with some root vegetables and gorgonzola cheese or mushroom, shallots and gooey Fontina. Crumbles never look the prettiest, but almost always taste amazing. For this crumble, I used a mixture of fresh spinach, aubergine, sweet potato, peppers and tomatoes. I added a little parsley pesto and crème fraiche to bring them all together and then covered with that deliciously moreish cheese crumble. I topped this with some flaked almonds for some extra crunch and sprig of aromatic thyme. Delicious 🙂
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- Some freshly ground pepper
- 200g/ 2 cups of sweet potato chopped into 2 cm cubes
- 100g / 1 heaped cup of aubergine chopped into 2 cm cubes
- 1 yellow pepper chopped into 2 cm cubes
- 150g / 1.5 cups of cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1 large onions chopped into large chunks
- 10g/ 1 tablespoon of butter
- 100g / small bunch of fresh spinach, washed and dried
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons of crème fraiche
- 1 teaspoon of grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon home-made or store bought pesto
Crumble
- 100g / 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 50g / 4 tablespoons of butter
- 30g / ½ cup of ground almonds
- 50g / 1 loose cup of grated parmesan
- Scattering of flaked almonds
Method
To begin, preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. Line a large baking sheet with tin foil. Place the olive oil, crushed garlic, pepper and salt into a large bowl. Add the chopped sweet potatoes, aubergine, pepper and tomatoes. Mix well to ensure all the vegetables are evenly coated with oil. Pour the vegetables onto the baking sheet and cook in the oven for about 40 minutes. The vegetables should be tender, but with a little bit of bite.
Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large saucepan. Place the spinach in the butter and cook over a low heat, until the spinach has wilted. Take off the heat and season with salt and pepper. Once the vegetables are cooked, take them out of the oven. Add them to the spinach, and also add the crème fraiche, mustard, and pesto to it. Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary.
To make the crumble, sieve the flour into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the ground almonds and parmesan and mix together with a fork.
Finally, pour the vegetables in the base of a large oven proof dish. Next, pour the crumble mixture over it and scatter some flaked almonds on top. Place the dish in the oven at the same heat (350 F / 180 C) and cook for thirty minutes. Once cooked, serve straight away.
