Why sprouts are so good!

Brussels sprouts seem to be one of those divisive ingredients, but I’m convinced that’s just because so many people’s first experience of them is an over-boiled soggy mess. However, like many brassicas, they have a relatively low sugar content which means you can roast them, get a good char on the outside and it will produce a wonderfully complex umami flavour rather than an acrid one like you would get with many other veg. You even want them to go a little black on the outer layers. You can overdo it, but they are fairly forgiving and you want them to look more done than you may think. These roasted sprouts are fantastic on their own as a side dish but I love to add them to this pasta dish to make a quick and healthy 20-minute weeknight meal.

The ingredients

This a fairly simple recipe, using only a few ingredients. It’s important that these are the highest quality you can find. If I am looking to build the sauce from that pasta water and the roasted flavours from the veg, I always try to use high-quality, bronze die pasta. Personally, I like De Cecco but there are plenty of really good options. Even Lidl and Aldi often have some really good cheaper bronze die pasta at a considerably cheaper price. You need this as the free starch that comes from the rough edges of the pasta when it’s formed this way as opposed to the smooth edges from silicone-extruded pasta will help to emulsify the oil and water to make our sauce.

Another little help with the emulsification is using vegan butter when adding the roasted sprouts to the pan. This has emulsifiers already in it, so if you can’t get bronze die pasta this can help to bring it all together. Ideally, you want both if possible. Then the lemon, this is just as important as any seasoning. Add a bit of the zest when the sprouts go into the pan with the butter and then half the juice right at the end once you have turned the heat off and it will lift the entire dish and bring it all together. The acid performs a similar function to salt in some ways in that it helps to balance everything and create a sort of equilibrium between the favours but we also want a nice citrusy note in our dish.

Preparation

Start by prepping the sprouts, I like to trim the very bottom off when they were attached to the stalk, but be careful not to take too much off. The more you cut off, the more of the outer leave will fall off. A few are fine as they often take a bit of a battering and look a bit worse for wear but you don’t want to lose too much. Then I’ll generally half them, but if they’re particularly large then quarter them. Pop these onto the baking tray, and season generously with salt and pepper and a good glug of quality olive oil. I then put these into a preheated oven at 200C or 400F for around 12 minutes, you want t give these a good char on the outside but still keep a nice bite in the middle.

You want to chop the garlic into slices so it can impart its flavour into the oil but not melt in as we may want in some sauces. It will be added for the final 5 minutes of oven time which should be just enough for it to soften and sweeten but not to burn, this will develop a horrible acrid taste if you overdo it so be careful here and keep an eye on it while it’s in the oven. At the same time as the garlic goes in add the sage, both the dried and the fresh. Using bother will give a full range of flavours you just need to make sure that there is enough free oil to rehydrate the dried sage and the fresh stuff will hopefully start to crisp up a little, these two combined will give a wonderfully complex earthy flavour. This is also the point at which I add the Aleppo chilli flakes, these give a beautiful citrus flavour and a touch of heat, but really not very much at all.

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