Brussels Sprouts - diva:flava-Style!

November 17th, 2007

Growing up as a child I was pretty much an equal opportunity eater. Just as today, there were very few foods, especially vegetables, that I did not like — EXCEPT Brussels sprouts. I can remember my mom making them only once, perhaps because I never ate them again before adulthood. I also remember letting her know, in no uncertain terms, that Brussels sprouts were not something I should be eating. Period! My, how things changed over the years. Admittedly, this miniature, cabbage-esque veggie is certainly an acquired taste for me, but boy oh boy have I fallen in love.

Until recently, I would either use them with potatoes, carrots and leeks in my venison stew concoction or simply sauté them in butter with salt and pepper as a side dish, but while browsing my cookbook shelves this morning (something I hadn’t done in a long while), I ran across a recipe by one of my favorite comfort food chefs, Lidia Bastianich. While her recipe in Lidia’s Family Table, is really quite simple, with only four other ingredients beisdes the sprouts (olive oil, fresh garlic, peperoncino and salt), there were a couple of things I needed to change to make this dish my own.

First, the recipe calls for cutting out the entire core of each sprout and separating all of the leaves. Well, I love to cook, but I knew that just wasn’t going to happen. I am way too lazy (and perhaps impatient) to sit and pick apart hundreds of tiny leaves, especially since I didn’t see how doing so would enhance the flavor of the dish in any significant way. There was already plenty of food prep to be done, so in lieu of the time consuming leaf plucking, I simply cut the bottoms off and sliced each sprout in half. Now that works for me!

Second, I decided to skip making the lemon sauce, as I didn’t feel like using an additional pot and the blender, too (told you I’m lazy like that). Instead, I opted to use fresh lemon juice to finish the dish right in the pan just before adding the freshly grated parmesan cheese. Also, since it was nearly dinner time, I decided to make it a complete one-skillet meal by adding bacon. Perhaps one day I’ll try making Lidia’s recipe exactly her way, sauce included, but today was not that day.

I love experimenting with recipes, customizing them to my specific tastes, and this one was no exception. It also helped that I was in an especially inspired and creative mood this afternoon, no doubt somewhat enhanced by the Pinot Noir.

My gut told me to use ingredients and flavors that I love most, so I did. In addition to the bacon, I added shallots, red bell peppers, extra garlic, Celtic sea salt, and fresh cracked black pepper. I am pleased to say that my variation of this basic recipe is, in a word, awesome. I could hardly wait to be finished so that I could grab myself a bowl and get busy.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Red Peppers & Bacon

Source: Own creation, inspired by Lidia’s Family Table, p. 271
Serves 6 to 8 | Vegetarian

This recipe can easily be made vegetarian-friendly by substituting canadian, vegetarian or turkey bacon for the slab bacon or by simply omitting the bacon altogether.

2 pounds fresh Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
6 to 8 ounce thickly sliced slab bacon cut into 1-inch strips
1 large red bell pepper, julienned (thinly sliced)
4 to 6 shallots, thinly sliced
8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup white wine (I used Riesling)*
1 large lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil, preferably extra virgin
2 tablespoons butter, sweet, unsalted
1/2 teaspoon peperoncino (red pepper flakes)
Salt to taste, preferably sea salt, Celtic
Freshly ground black peppercorns, medium course
Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano**or Grana Padano**

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash sprouts and peel off any damaged leaves. Trim the root end and cut each sprout in half. Keep the good leaves that happen to fall off.

Cook bacon in a large, oven-proof skillet or small roasting pan (do not use a non-stick skillet) over medium heat until bacon is done and begins to crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate and set aside to drain on paper towels. Pour bacon grease into small container to use for later, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan (do not clean the pan).

In same pan, over medium heat, add bell pepper and sauté until slightly tender, about 2 minutes. Add shallots and garlic and cook until shallots become tender, about another 3 to 4 minutes. Season with black pepper. Salt should not be needed, as the bacon is pretty salty, Transfer to a large bowl.

To the same pan, over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add all of the Brussels sprouts, cut side down (as many as you can), and season with salt and pepper. Cook until sprouts are nicely caramelize (browned), approximately 8 to 10 minutes, then add the wine and stir steadily to deglaze the pan, approximately 1 minute. Roast in oven (without lid) for about 30 minutes or until sprouts are tender. Remove pan from oven (be careful of the hot handle), add the bacon, peppers, shallots, garlic, butter and lemon juice and mix well.

Plate and serve immediately. Top with parmesan cheese to taste.

*Use a decent wine. Please do not use a wine for this dish that you would not drink. It’ll ruin the dish.
**Both of these cheeses are also available here.

Filed under: On the Side, Vegetarian