Pumpkin Crumble

The selected recipe for this week at Cook The Book Fridays is Butternut Squash Crumble. I have used pumpkin instead of butternut as pumpkin is more readily available in the area where I live. Cook The Book Fridays, a group of bloggers, are currently cooking through David Lebovitz's cookbook, My Paris Kitchen.

Pumpkin is peeled and cut to 1/2 inch pieces, then sauteed in a little oil and butter, with some fresh thymes, season with salt and pepper, stir occasionally until the pumpkin begin to brown on several sides. I did not brown the pumpkin, (too lazy to wait!!). I stir-fry for a few minutes. Add some sliced shallots, cook until softened, add some chicken stock and cook until the stock reduce a bit. Transfer to a well-buttered shallow baking tray. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes until the squash are tender.

The crumble topping is made by processing in a food processor, the bread crumbs, cornmeal, Parmesan, sage (I use dried oregano), sugar and salt together until crumbly. Add the chilled and cubed butter, and lastly the egg, pulse until mixture starts to clump together in bits. Remove the tray from the oven, and scatter the crumble topping all over. Return the tray to the oven with a slight reduction in the oven temperature. Bake for about 20 minutes until the topping is golden brown.

This savoury crumble is quite nice. Crispy topping with soft tender squash. But the Parmesan cheese is a little too strong for my taste. I think that it would work better for me if I have used Cheddar instead as I originally intended. I have always prefer Cheddar over Parmesan, just my personal preference. This would make a nice side dish, but I would go for small portions, as it is quite filling. 

Do stop by CtBF to view everyone's take on this savoury crumble. If you have the book or thought of getting one, please do, and join us! Full details here.