Root Vegetable Crumble

I am new to Melissa Hemsley's vegetable recipes, having seen a repost of her Cavolo Nero & Celeriac Cheddar Crumble recipe a week or so ago.

As a celeriac lover this recipe caught my eye, but I didn't read the recipe properly when shopping and went a bit off message with the ingredients.

I loved it, but as my version contained 3 of my kids vegetable pet hates, it was a bit of a long shot and I gave them the choice of making themselves something else for dinner if preferred. They made themselves a wrap.

Serves 4

1 small celeriac, peeled and cubed
1 small swede, peeled and cubed

200g potatoes, cleaned and cubed

1 onion, peeled and diced

Large handful of shredded greens eg kale, spinach. I used allotment grown sprouts

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

1-2 tsp olive oil

50g plain flour

100g cheddar cheese

2 tbsp dijon or English mustard

500ml whole milk

120g whole oats

40g chopped nuts or seeds

50g cold butter, cubed

Place the chopped swede into a covered pan of boiling salted water. After 10 minutes add the potatoes. Add the celeriac 10 minutes after the water comes back the boil, and boil for another 5 minutes. Drain and leave to steam in your baking dish.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a saucepan and soften the onion and garlic over a medium low heat, when translucent (or starting to brown) and add your greens to wilt. Splash over a little water to help them steam if not wet from washing. When wilted, tip over your root veg.

Using the same saucepan, add the cold milk, flour, and another tablespoon of olive oil. Whisk quickly over a medium heat to combine the flour into the milk (flour goes lumpy in hot milk so whisk as soon as you add the flour to the cold milk in the pan). Change to a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula with a flat edge and stir the white sauce constantly to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once it starts to thick turn the heat down to low and stir in the mustard, seasoning, and cheese (keeping a handful back to sprinkle on top).

If your saucepan is big enough, tip the vegetables from the baking tray back in to the saucepan to mix in the sauce. If not, pour the sauce over the vegetables in the baking tray and mix in carefully.

Rub the oats, nuts, and butter together with your fingers until the mixture looks like large breadcrumbs and the butter lumps are no bigger than the oak flakes. Sprinkle evenly over the vegetables in the cheese sauce in your baking tray and then sprinkle the remaining cheese over.

Bake at 200C for 20 minutes in a preheated oven until bubbling. You may wish to grill it for the last few minutes to brown the crumble, but watch it like a hawk if you do.

I try it with a pangrattato topping next time, as the oat topping was a little chewy. But it may have to wait till the kids leave home. 

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