This is where I got the curiosity to try out a savory crumble – what if the same breezy and flavorful preparation could be applied to vegetables? Well, turns out that it can, and it’s really good.
For this particular savory crumble, I used the vegetables that are most abundant right now – zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes, with an addition of mushrooms for their meatiness and substance, and complete with warming curry spice. That being said, this recipe is highly customizable – use any vegetable in season (squash soon!), and any spice mix you prefer, keeping the crumble topping the same. After about an hour of slow-baking in the oven, you will have an amazingly comforting and nourishing meal. The leftovers are really tasty, too.
Now you might be wondering what that beautiful wooden appliance gracing some of the photos is. Pleasant Hill Grain, a supplier of high-quality kitchen equipment, sent me one of their grain mills made by KoMo for grinding dry grains and beans, and I am in love! I wrote a lot about the advantages of freshly grinding your own flour in my book – it’s more affordable (whole grains are generally cheaper than flour), more nutritious, and so much more flavorful. It’s an especially great strategy for gluten-free baking, where a mix of various flours is often required.
Before this mill, I did all my grinding in my high-speed Belndtec, but the way the KoMo mill is different and better for grinding flours is through its use of stones. Stone grinding is the most ancient form of pulverizing grain, and creates the most nutritious flour, simply because the flour never gets heated up too much while milling, allowing it to retain all the nutrition of the grains. KoMo also uses state of the art stones, made of a combination of corundum and ceramic, which basically never get worn down, and can produce very fine to coarse flour, based on your setting. I can genuinely say that fresh, stone-ground flour is absolutely the best, most flavorful flour you’ll ever cook with. Lastly, can we talk about the minimal design of this mill – is it not the most beautiful appliance you’ve ever seen? It’s designed in Germany and made in the Austrian Alps, and there’s not a single detail that doesn’t have function. The housing is made of Beechwood, and those meticulously crafted finger joints at the corners make me swoon. Once my kitchen is renovated, this guy will be on display, front and center.
The most exciting news, though, is that we will be giving away one KoMo mill next week, so a hot tip – stick around for that :)
- 1-2 eggplants - cubed
- 2 zucchini - diced into thick half-rounds
- ½ lb crimini or baby bella mushrooms
- 3-5 tomatoes - roughly chopped
- 1 yellow onion - chopped
- 3-5 garlic cloves - sliced
- 1-2 tablespoons curry powder, preferably homemade (I use recipe from this book)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper - to taste
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used untoasted, unrefined pure sesame oil, a new discovery, excellent for cooking and oil pulling) or ghee
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup freshly ground barley, or cornmeal/polenta
- ½ cup ground almonds
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper - to taste
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup ghee or neutral coconut oil - cold and solid (I prefer using ghee for this recipe as it goes really well with the curry spice)
- ¼ cup unsweetened, cold almond milk or other plant milk
- Preheat oven to 375° F (190° C).
- Combine all the vegetables and mushrooms in a large bowl. Add curry powder, salt, pepper and oil and toss to coat. Transfer the mixture into a 10-inch cast iron pan and set aside.
- Combine oats, barley flour/cornmeal, almonds, salt, pepper and baking powder in the same bowl. Cut the cold ghee or coconut oil into pieces and add to the bowl. Use your hands to mix the ghee/oil into the dry ingredients thoroughly. Add milk and mix to incorporate. Scatter the topping over the vegetables in the skillet and place into the oven. Bake for 1 hour.
- Serve garnished with fresh herbs, if desired. Reheat leftovers in a pan over low medium heat.
I love savory crumble – I also made one in my book – and that mill….omg!!!
Valentina, I would love to see your version!
I also thinking about buying a grain mill, but taking into acount my small kitchin , I will be still using my Vitamix. But I dream about having it too, once.. :).
Love the simplity of this recipe. Who said crumbles are only for breasfast or desserts?
Beautiful, Anya, never tried it before so I am very impatient about making it!
Thanks, Natalia! I hope you get to try and enjoy it ;)
Hi Natalia,
I love everything about your post: ingredients, cooking itself, wooden mill, photos…..
You are great !
Keep on cooking and posting,
Have a pleasant day,
2pots2cook
This is a brilliant idea. I never thought of doing a savory crumble, but it sounds amazing.
Beautiful dish and the mill looks wonderful too.