Opinion – Terra Vegana: Learn how to prepare a salty mushroom crumble for New Year’s Eve dinner

Mushrooms and potatoes roasted in cream, topped with a nut and lemon farofa. Say those words out loud, and start salivating. You can call it crumble — the dish is salty, but the structure is the same as the dessert.

Underneath, rustically cut fresh ingredients go into the oven and release their juice; on top, a mixture of flour and butter with a touch of Sicilian lemon gives it a crunchy texture that contrasts with the tender density of the subterranean.

The bad tongues will say that the salted mushroom crumble is so tasty, but so tasty, it doesn’t even look like it’s vegan. The marriage of potatoes and mushrooms is even more perfect when you invite leeks slowly sautéed in olive oil onto the baking sheet.

The white wine that is in the fridge, waiting for sunset to fall into the glass, makes its triumphal entry a few hours earlier, in the frying pan. It builds flavor on the plate and the smile on the face of those who cook while drinking a glass.

The cream that involves the vegetables does not have to be of animal origin: there is already a good variety of 100% vegetable cream, both in terms of raw materials (soy, oats and cashew nuts) and in terms of price.

Those who prefer to use wheat flour when preparing the crumble can feel free, just add the amount of flour and use 160 grams of wheat flour instead of 80 g of rice flour and another 80 grams of almond flour.

The nuts give the crumble an extra crunchy texture, but before buying the 320 grams the recipe calls for, the tip is to open the cupboard and see what’s left of the Christmas dinner. Add the hazelnuts, cashew nuts, almonds and make a mix to reuse Christmas nuts. Chic and sustainable, no?

If served with a salad, the crumble becomes a light and different option for New Year’s dinner. Green leaves, pomegranate seeds, lentils cooked al dente, halved cherry tomatoes and apricot cubes: combine everything in a large serving bowl and drizzle with a classic olive oil and balsamic vinegar sauce.

When it’s time to remove the pomegranate seeds from the shell, don’t despair: cut the fruit in half, turn each half over into a bowl and hit the shell vigorously with the back of the spoon. The seeds will fall out with minimal effort.

Let’s go to the recipe.

Salted Mushroom Crumble

CRUMBLE INGREDIENTS

80 g of rice flour

80 g of almond flour

160 g vegetable butter (must be cold)

320 g of walnuts

Zest of 1 Sicilian lemon

INGREDIENTS FOR MUSHROOM & POTATOES

1 kg of assorted mushrooms (shitake, shimeji, portobelo or mushroom)

400 g of leek

200 ml of white wine

250g vegetable cream

700g of potatoes

Olive oil, as much as needed (q/b)

salt, q/b

Freshly ground black pepper, q/b

Oregano, basil and dried thyme, q/b

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Cut the potatoes into thin slices. Spread on a baking sheet, season with olive oil, salt and black pepper and bake for 20 minutes.

2. Cut the leek into slices and sauté with olive oil, salt and black pepper over low heat. Meanwhile clean and cut the mushrooms into quarters (the shimejis do not need to be cut, just detach from the stalk). Add the mushrooms to the skillet and sauté until wilted. Add the wine and stir until it evaporates. Add the vegetable milk cream, wrap and turn off the fire.

3. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and spread the mushrooms over the potatoes.

4. Cut the butter into squares and add to a bowl with the flour. Mix with your hands until you get a farofa. Chop the walnuts into small pieces and add to the crumble. Add the lemon zest and spread the crumble over the mushrooms and bake for 10 minutes on the grill function, or until the crumble is golden.