Sautéed Brussels sprouts
 with Bacon

So next on my Thanksgiving recipe recommendation list is Brussels sprouts, yum! Okay, so I know that’s unlikely to be everyone’s first reaction, and I also know that Brussels sprouts are often given a bad name by over enthusiastic cooking and early memories of squishy greeny-grey things we were forced to eat on the side of holiday dinners, but it doesn’t have to be that way!

This recipe gets around the over cooking by having you take the Brussels sprouts apart so you can quickly sauté them, and includes bacon and shallots (let’s face it what doesn’t taste better with bacon – apologies to all you vegetarians) to give you a dish that is beautifully bright green – a hit on any holiday plate and one you might even be tempted to cook during the week without guests.

Sautéed Brussels sprouts

Serves 4

4 cups of Brussels sprouts
4 rashers of streaky bacon (roughly cut up)
1 large shallot (or a small onion)
2 tablespoons of water
Salt & pepper to taste

Trim the bottom of each sprout and cut in half before removing & discarding the core, separate out the leaves into a large bowl. This can be done a day ahead if you wish, just store the leaves in a zip-lock bag in the fridge.

Heat a dry sauté pan, throw in the bacon and cook until it’s crispy then remove from the pan and place to one side. Pour off the majority of the bacon grease, place the pan back on the heat and add in the shallots sautéing until soft (2 minutes or so), next add in the Brussels sprout leaves and 2 tablespoons of water, stir, and cook until the leaves are bright green – about 5 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper. Finally, gently mix the crisped bacon back in and you are ready to serve :) – Melani
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