Adding crunch to a bake

[Fiffyshadesofgreymatter]

Hi. Looking for some suggestions to add crunch to a meal.

I make an aubergine and chickpea bake; roast the aubergine for 40 minutes, scoop out flesh and add to a tin of drained chickpeas. In a pan I fry garlic, cumin and coriander then add that to the bowl. Add in a dash of lemon juice and salt and a spoon of gram flour, then mash it all together.
Spread into a tray and top with polenta then bake for 20 minutes.

It's tasty, the kids love it but it needs a bit more texture. What can I add into the mixture to give more of a crunch throughout?

I think anything you put in the mixture will go soggy. I'd do a topping of bread crumbs and flaked almonds instead.

(It sounds lively, by the way)

What about some toasted pinenuts?

That sounds really nice I'm going to give that a go. I'd put cheese on top too and maybe pine nuts as a pp said. Do you put the mixture back inside the aubergine?

Or how about topping with croutons and maybe cheese? I think they'd go nice and soggy underneath and make the top really crispy.

Sounds lush, I’ve screenshotted it, thanks!

My thinking was anything on the inside would just get soggy. But adding pine nuts with the polenta on top sounds good! And maybe serve it with croutons on the side. We usually have salad with it, so croutons would go well on the side of all that.

@NoProbLlama78

I don't put it back inside the skins. I make a tomato lentil 'curry' and put that inside the skins. Then bake.

We eat the aubergine skin and lentils on that day, and the bake stays in the fridge (as it's very soft). Then I add the polenta topping the following day and bake it.

Panko breadcrumbs are good for an easy, crunchy topping too. I mix them with grated cheese.

The dish sounds very tasty :)

@WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo

Panko breadcrumbs are so good! We're having panko crumbles butternut squash tonight!

*panko crumbed butternut

Enjoy! I shove them on anything and everything

The tomato and lentil filling sounds good too. I'm going to do them next time I make a picky tapas type dinner.