Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Mash Crumble - Bakemas Day 6

This is one of those recipes that started out as something entirely different and just spiralled out of control which I am oh so grateful for.

Mash potato was always one of those foods that I was pretty indifferent to but I really wanted to find a way to enjoy sweet potato mash without it tasting...too sweet. Does that defeat the point of sweet potato mash? I’m not sure. I used cauliflower to cut through some of the sweetness of the potato and decided to bake it in the oven which led me to the crumble topping, which is the least surprising part about this meal considering I’ll pretty much add crumble to anything I can. I used nuts, seeds and oats to keep it chunky, simple and add a little protein and fat; it also means if you need to, the switch to gluten free is easy. I also added some sage and garlic, which just reminds me of stuffing, and seasoned the topping well. The chickpeas I added for texture but really for me it just turned it into a meal, I find a little bit of joy in meals baked in one dish in the oven. Anyway, one last thing; the leek is important! I don’t know if this is true for anyone else but I’ve always slightly undervalued what a leek does to a dish, until today, do not underestimate the power of a leek...now I just sound like a spokesperson for leeks giving a PSA.

So this is/was/meant to be a side dish. You could have it with your Christmas dinner, I’ll probably be making this on Boxing Day because that’s the day we eat leftovers and mash but I 100% will be making this for dinner beforehand, add a little broccoli on the side and I’m all set. What I’m saying is you can use it for all the things.

Anyway, on to the recipe!

You will need
2 medium or 1 large sweet potato, mine was about 400g
½ head of cauliflower, I used about 500g
1 medium leek
1 tin chickpeas
1 oz oats
1 oz pecans
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
½ oz/1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
Dried sage
Garlic powder/granules

Preheat your oven to 180C/355F/Gas mark 4
Peel the sweet potato then chop the cauliflower and peeled sweet potato into small pieces. Place in a steamer over boiling water and cook until soft, this should take about 15 minutes depending on how full your steamer is.
While your vegetables are steaming slice the leek and drain the chickpeas. Put the oats, pecans and sunflower seeds in a bowl and mix the melted coconut oil in, season well with salt, pepper, dried sage and garlic power/granules.
Once your vegetables have finished steaming remove the water from the saucepan and pour the vegetables in the pan and mash, you may want to use a hand blender to get a smoother finish. Season with salt and pepper then stir in the leek and chickpeas.
Spoon the mash into a baking dish and top with the crumble.
Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.