What makes a good savoury crumble? | Food

“In theory, savoury crumbles are a really good idea, so I don’t get why we don’t make them more often,” says Esther Clark, who writes The Good Home Cook Substack. Perhaps it’s because their sweet sibling – apple, blackberry, rhubarb, pear – is such an icon, but, as Clark notes, “Crumbles are incredibly forgiving: they go into one tin, so there’s barely any washing-up, and they freeze well, too, making them a good weeknight number.”

In a savoury scenario, you’re essentially making a pie filling, then, rather than faffing around with a pastry lid, you’re rubbing together butter and flour, and maybe stirring in some oats, cheese, seeds or nuts. “For the filling, you can either go down the stewy route with tomatoes and stock, or go for a bechamel vibe,” says Mark Diacono, author of Vegetables. “But you can’t really do better than root vegetables [celeriac or carrots, say], some onion, plus peas for sweetness.” Clark sits firmly in the creamy, comforting camp with a bechamel base and chunky ingredients, such as shredded leftover roast chicken, for texture. “You could also do something like a fish pie mix with poached white fish, leeks and spinach or cavolo nero,” she suggests, which would be crying out for a simple, cheddary topping.

We’re also fast approaching squash and pumpkin season, and Clark would be tempted to roast them – “to get as much flavour in there as possible” – before combining with her favoured bechamel base. “You could put some dijon mustard in there, too, or broken bits of blue cheese,” she says. Spruce up the basic butter-and-flour topping with chopped sage, hazelnuts, walnuts or pecans, and maybe a few roast pumpkin seeds.

And that’s the thing about a savoury crumble: it all comes down to the detail. For Diacono, this means that the toppings should be nutty, oaty and an opportunity to “mess around with spices” – fennel, cumin and caraway seeds are some of his go-tos. Lorcan Spiteri, chef/co-owner of Caravel in north London, meanwhile, recommends a mix of garam masala, crushed coriander seeds, dried fenugreek, turmeric, cayenne and breadcrumbs: “Put a couple of fillets of brill in a baking dish, then whizz up some fresh coriander and room-temperature butter and spread that over the top.” Sprinkle the crumble mix over the fish, then bake until the fish is cooked through and the crumb is golden brown. Alternatively, Neil Campbell, executive chef at Rovi in central London, mixes things up by swapping the flour in the topping for shredded filo. He combines the pastry pieces with butter, then sprinkles them over leftover roast veg mixed with a bit of stock and cream to loosen things up. “Top that with grated parmesan as soon as it comes out of the oven.”

The other draw of crumbles is that they’re as happy dressed up as they are dressed down, so they’re a really good thrifty dinner option. “You’re mostly using ingredients you already have at home,” Clark says. “And because you’re not spending £3 on some puff pastry for a pie lid, you can also treat yourself to, say, a little good gorgonzola to put in that pumpkin crumble.”