Lamb Crumble

I was contacted by the lovely team at Talented Talkers last week who have been working with hotel chain Travelodge, who are looking to promote their coastal, seaside resorts. With a focus on Bournemouth in particular, I was called up on to put my culinary skills to the ultimate test, and create a Bournemouth-ian dish! See Travelodge's blog post on Bournemouth's rich food heritage here.

Having only visited Bournemouth many years ago when I was little, I had few memories of my visit, and especially the food. After a little research I found a couple of recipes that struck a cord with Bournemouth, and not just fish and chips or ice-cream! One that caught my attention was a lamb crumble dish. From the photo it looked like a Shepherd's Pie, but with a delicious cheese based crumble on top.I have to say this is one of the tastiest meals I've ever created. The flavours were perfect. It felt very indulgent, and homely. The perfect Sunday lunch! Bournemouth I salute you. I will 100% be making this again.

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 225g lean lamb mince
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 large sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1.5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 210ml lamb stock
• Salt and pepper
• 50g sweet corn

For the crumble:

• 40g bread flour
• 40g plain flour
• 40g butter, cubed
• 50g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
• 1-2 tbsp freshly chopped chives

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180-190ºC.
2. Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan and cook the mince for 5-8 minutes until brown under a moderate heat.
3. Add the celery, onions and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the rosemary.
4. Stir in the plain flour, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, stock and seasoning. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat.
5. Stir through the sweetcorn and spoon into an oven proof dish, or individual dishes.
6. Meanwhile, to prepare the crumble, place flours into a large bowl. Rub in the butter, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the cheese and chives.
7. Spoon the crumble over top of the mince mixture. Bake the crumble for 30 minutes until bubbling.
8. Serve with green vegetables, or new potatoes. We chose sprouts and broccoli cheese - our favourite veg!