Asparagus & Zucchini Crumble

Sweet crumbles are my passion: stewed fruit – again – but with a crispy layer that hides beneath its mysteries and its tasty predictions of softness; almost infinite choice for taste and flavoring. You can eat them hot, as they are, or with a scoop of ice cream, or a bit of plain yogurt for a special breakfast. A few days ago, Sara aka Fiordifrolla instilled in me the desire to decline crumble to salty. I’m an impatient and eager to try girl, so I put together the best ingredients in my fridge and pantry, and made this delicious crumble.

Yesterday on Facebook and Twitter I organized a little game to see if you was able to guess all the ingredients, and you went very close to the solution… you found almost immediately asparagus and zucchini, but it took a bit more to understand which were the other ingredients. What I omissed is that they are two ingredients that come directly from Basilicata, and represent excellences of this region. There  was mozzarella fiordilatte – brought by my father’s cousins who came from Melfi (PZ) for the baptism of cutie little Giada – that honestly for me is the best in the world. Then there was the sweet sausage (sweet ’cause not spicy, not because really sweet!), one of the few leftovers of the gourmet package I won for the competition Puglia&Basilicata a Tavola. To all this, add a touch of Salter Butter 1889 from Fattorie Fiandino, and the result will not disappoint you!

Before telling you the recipe, let me make a small praise of single portions: isn’t it nice to make many small ramekins for each guest or family member? Isn’t it nice to be invited by someone and find a single portion complete in itself, designed specially for you in its perfection? It is something that I always love, be it a crumble, a salty or sweet muffin, a cupcake or a creamy cup. That’s why I recommend you to make crumble into single small ramekins! Not only they will cook faster, but they’ll also be nicer to be presented on table, perfect  in their combination of soft and moist vegetables and a dry, savoury and crisp crumble.

I won’t give you exact quantity, because this crumble is one of those kinds of recipes you can do with what you have in the fridge, without necessarily going to the supermarket or ringing the bell to your grandmother, my trustworthy and reliable supermarket!

Ingredients:

• green asparagus, about one bunch
  
• zucchini, same quantity as asparagus
  
• mozzarella fiordilatte, one big
  
• sweet sausage, same quantity as mozzarella
  
• basil, a few leaves
  
• salt
• almond flour, about 150 gr
  
• kamut flour, about 150 gr
  
• Salted Butter 1889 Fattorie Fiandino, about 100 gr
  

Clean the asparagus, removing the woody part of the stalks. Cut off the asparagus tips and put them aside. Trim asparagus stalks into 1cm wide chunks. Wash zucchini and cut them into cubes of about 1 cm. Drain well mozzarella and cut it into cubes of about 1 cm. Slice the sausage, remove the outer skin and dice it as well. Stir in a large bowl all the ingredients (asparagus – stalk and tips -, zucchini, mozzarella and sausage), add a few basil leaves, then season lightly with salt and distribute into small ramekins or a large baking dish.

Bring butter to room temperature and mix it with your fingers with the two flours, until crumbs are formed. Distribute plenty of the crumble mixture over the asparagus and zucchini and bake in a preheated oven to 180°C for about 35 to 40 minutes until  crumble is golden and you see the vegetables moisture coming out from the sides of the crumble. Serve hot or warm. I’ve eaten it cold the next day at work with a dish of salad and it was just as good as the day before!

Related posts:

Green peas and asparagus soup, with a coconut hint Warm spring vegetable salad with grilled pecorino cheese Food Revolution Day: green panzanella salad Asparagus and ricotta crepes for Easter