Charred Brussels Sprouts with Green Lentils
As we are getting closer to December and Christmas, it must be time for a Brussels Sprout recipe. I do like Brussels sprouts. Eating them raw makes their relationship to the mustard family quite obvious from the peppery heat they offer. If cooking them, they need to be cooked through, but with a bit of bite still to them. I find it is a very fine line between them still being quite crunchy to them going too soft. Turning the heat off before they are ready and letting them sit in their water for about 10 mins, offers the best result.
The following recipe is my version of a dish I recently had at Balls & Company in London. It was so good, I wanted to share the idea with you.
Ingredients
- 24 raw Brussels sprouts
- 1 small onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tin of precooked green lentils
- 1 chicken stock pot
- 100 ml of white wine
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Vegetable/Sunflower/Canola oil
Method
Trim the end of the stalk and cut the Brussels Sprouts in half along the length of each sprout. Add them to a pan of simmering water and let them cook gently for approximately 10-15 minutes or until the time the are soft around the edges, but still with a crunchy bite to them, similar to the way I described above. When done, drain them well and leave them to one side until all the steam has gone.
Peel and chop the onion cloves, it doesn’t need to be too fine. Heat a small frying pan and add 2 tablespoons of oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the onion to the pan with a pinch of salt and grind of black pepper. When the onion starts to soften, crush your garlic cloves and add to the pan. Gently fry this all together until it starts to go a golden brown.
Open and drain your lentils, adding them to the onion and garlic. Add the white wine and chicken stock pot and simmer on low heat, adding a good grind of black pepper. Stir regularly to avoid it sticking to the pan.
Add oil to a heated pan and gently place the par boiled Brussels Sprouts in it. Turn them occasionally until you get a nice charred exterior. Sample one or two, until you get the charred flavour you want to achieve.
Add the Brussels sprouts to the lentils and serve.
