The topping on Hairy Bikers vegetable crumble is flour, butter, parsley and Cheddar, with no sugar and no oats anywhere. Underneath sits mushroom, butternut squash, broccoli and cauliflower in a cream and cheese sauce. The recipe is in One Pot Wonders and serves four at about 620 calories.
They make the case for it plainly: a good old crumble topping goes just as well with a savoury filling as a sweet one. They also admit it is so good they have to resist picking it all off before getting to the veg.
The broccoli and cauliflower go in last and sit on top of everything else, above the liquid rather than in it. The lid goes on and they steam there while the rest simmers underneath.
Hairy Bikers Vegetable Crumble
Description
Onion, celery, mushrooms and squash are cooked first, then white wine bubbles away and stock goes in. Broccoli and cauliflower steam above it before cream and Cheddar are stirred through. Everything is covered and dotted with more butter before baking.
Ingredients
For the filling
For the topping
Instructions
- Heat the oven: Preheat to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4.
- Start the vegetables: Heat the olive oil and butter in a large flameproof casserole dish and add the onion and celery. Cook until the onion is soft.
- Brown the mushrooms: Turn the heat up, add the mushrooms and squash and cook until the mushrooms are lightly browned.
- Add the liquid: Pour in the white wine and let it bubble up, then add the stock and season with salt and pepper.
- Steam the florets: Put the broccoli and cauliflower on top of the other vegetables so they sit above the liquid. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down, cover with a lid and simmer until the vegetables are just tender.
- Finish the sauce: Stir in the cream and the 100g of Cheddar.
- Make the topping: Put the flour in a bowl with salt and pepper and rub in the butter. Stir in the parsley and the 50g of Cheddar.
- Assemble and bake: Sprinkle the topping over the vegetables and dot with a little more butter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until it is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling up around the sides.
- Rest it: Leave to settle for 5 minutes before serving.
FAQs
Does this crumble have oats in it?
No. The topping is plain flour, butter, chopped parsley and grated Cheddar, and that is all. There are no oats and no sugar in it.
You could add 50g of oats and take the flour down to 100g if you want a rougher texture. It changes the character though, since the cheese is doing the work here and oats would compete with it.
Why put the broccoli and cauliflower on top?
Because florets sitting in stock for a quarter of an hour go grey and soft, and they leak water into the sauce as they cook.
Kept above the liquid they steam instead, so they stay green, firm and separate. The lid is what makes it work, since without it there is nothing to hold the steam in.
Is it vegetarian?
Yes, and the ingredient list says vegetarian Cheddar for that reason. Standard Cheddar is often made with animal rennet, so it is worth checking the packet.
The other thing to check is the stock. Some vegetable stock cubes are not vegetarian, though most are these days.
Can I change the vegetables?
They say so themselves: you can vary the veg of course. What matters is keeping the same balance rather than the exact list.
You need something that softens into the sauce, like the squash, something with body, like the mushrooms, and something that stays firm on top, like the florets. Their cauliflower cheese is the simpler version of the same idea if this feels like a lot of chopping.
How is a savoury crumble different from a sweet one?
Only the topping, really. Their plum crumble uses the same rubbed-in method but swaps the cheese and parsley for demerara sugar and oats.
The oven is gentler here too, 180°C rather than the 200 or 220 the fruit ones need. Cheese browns faster than sugar caramelises, so a hot oven would darken this before the sauce underneath started bubbling.
