Lamb crumble recipe

This lamb crumble is the ideal alternative to a roast dinner as it has many of the same ingredients - but with a unique flair. 

We've made our lamb crumble with spicy, lean minced lamb, courgettes, aubergine, canned chickpeas, and finished it off with a tasty Cheshire cheese crumble topping. It's truly a warming winter recipe, perfect for lunch or dinner on a cold day. There are 16 ingredients in this recipe but it's still surprisingly easy to make and you can leave it cooking in the oven while you prepare other elements of the meal. We recommend serving this crumble with a healthy portion of greens and a side of gravy.

Ingredients

• 500g (1lb) (2oz) lean minced lamb onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 medium aubergine, thinly sliced
• 1tsp ground cumin
• 1tsp ground ginger
• 1tsp dried thyme
• 1tsp chopped fresh red chilli or 1/2 tsp medium chilli powder
• 1tbsp tomato puree
• 125ml (4floz) red wine or water
• 1 medium courgette, grated
• 50g (2oz) sultanas
• 410g can chick peas, rinsed and drained
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the topping:

• 100g (4oz) plain flour
• 50g (2oz) chilled butter, cut into pieces
• 75g (3oz) Cheshire cheese, finely crumbled

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4.
2. Heat a large saucepan and add the lamb, searing it over a high heat until browned. Add the onion and garlic, reduce the heat and cook for about 5 mins, stirring often.
3. Meanwhile, char-grill or grill the slices of aubergine for about 2 mins on each side to soften them. Stir the spices and herbs, tomato puree and red wine or water into the lamb mixture and simmer for 5 mins. Add the courgette, sultanas and chick peas, then remove from the heat. Season with black pepper.
4. Spoon half the mixture into a deep baking dish. Layer the aubergine on top, then add the remaining mince mixture, leveling the surface. Cool for a few mins whilst preparing the topping.
5. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the crumbled Cheshire cheese.
6. Sprinkle over the mince mixture and bake for 30-35 mins.

Top tips for making lamb crumble:

If you find that you're crumble is baking away and turning a little too brown while your meat isn't quite cooked, leave the temperature the same but cover the dish with a tinfoil sheet. This will help the crumble to cook without burning it.

You might also like: 

Sausage crumble

Vegetable crumble

Savoury crumble