A few months ago my (gluten-free) mother offered to buy me a cookbook she’d heard about, by some famous bread bakery lady. Who would say no to that? I’ve made a few things from the book so far that I didn’t share because…well, I’ve decided that hand-making puff pastry isn’t actually worth the effort? But this recipe, which uses just bread crumbs, is well worth making repeatedly! This actually only uses bread crumbs, in theory from sourdough you make following their recipe, although I just used a few slices of super bread I had in the freezer, to make a flavorful, savory version of a dish that’s usually a sweet, fruity dessert!

If desired, you can skip the cheese to make this vegan, and/or use gf bread crumbs to make it gluten-free. Good for most everybody!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• fine sea salt (I actually used Kosher) and black pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and sliced
• 1 fennel bulb, stalks removed, fronds reserved, and bulb diced into 1/2″ pieces (I’m often skeptical of fennel, as I hate the flavor of anise, but I didn’t notice it in this)
• 1 large turnip, peeled and diced into 1/2″ pieces
• 2 medium beets, peeled and cut into thin wedges (yellow beets are fine and maybe don’t dye your bowl like red)
• 1 cup coarsely ground bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped reserved fennel fronds (I put 3x more than that, misread it)
• 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons orange zest

To make the bread crumbs, I toasted the (frozen) bread, then whizzed it in the food processor attachment of my immersion blender.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Warm 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper, then cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to become translucent. Add the garlic and cook another two minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, toss the remaining chopped vegetables, not including the fennel fronds, with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.

Season well with salt and pepper, then spread over the cooked onions.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake an additional 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together the bread crumbs, fennel fronds, remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the cheese, and the orange zest.

Sprinkle over the cooked vegetables, then return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden brown.

I will absolutely be making this again! It is, unsurprisingly, best day-of, but heated up the leftovers are still good. If you don’t have a big cast iron pan (mine’s 12″), you can cook the onions in a different pan on the stove, then transfer to a 9″ square baking dish for the rest.

Root Vegetable Crumble

Adapted from Poilane.

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• fine sea salt and black pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and sliced
• 1 fennel bulb, stalks removed, fronds reserved, and bulb diced into 1/2″ pieces
• 1 large turnip, peeled and diced into 1/2″ pieces
• 2 medium beets, peeled and cut into thin wedges
• 1 cup coarsely ground bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped reserved fennel fronds
• 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons orange zest

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Warm 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper, then cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to become translucent. Add the garlic and cook another two minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, toss the remaining chopped vegetables, not including the fennel fronds, with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper, then spread over the cooked onions. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake an additional 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together the bread crumbs, fennel fronds, remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the cheese, and the orange zest. Sprinkle over the cooked vegetables, then return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden brown.