Food & Drink

Be a Dinner Party Hero With This Simple, Sophisticated Brussels Sprouts Recipe

Recipe of the Week: Volunteer Park Cafe's crispy Brussels spouts with pancetta.

By Seattle Magazine Staff May 12, 2017

Brussels-sprouts

Recipes for Seattlemag.com’s Recipe of the Week are contributed by participating chefs, cookbook authors and food bloggers.

Name of Recipe: Crispy Brussels Spouts with Pancetta Lardons & Meyer Lemon

Source of Recipe: Menu/chef’s personal recipe collection

Why We Love This Recipe: This is a great, simple side dish. You can make the pancetta and lemons in advance, then roast the Brussels when it’s time for dinner and throw it all together in just a few minutes. Plus, it’s great warm—it doesn’t need to stay piping hot to be delicious, which makes it a perfect option for big meals or potlucks.

Chef Ericka Burke, Volunteer Park Cafe Crispy Brussels Spouts with Pancetta Lardons & Meyer Lemon (Serves 6)

Ingredients:

1 cup pancetta, cut into
½” x ½” cubes
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon Paprika
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, bottoms trimmed and cut in half
1 Meyer Lemon, cut into thin wheels and fried in canola oil (recipe follows)
¼ cup Italian parsley, minced
¼ cup olive oil Kosher salt to taste

For the pancetta: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place cubed pancetta on a sheet pan and sprinkle with brown sugar and paprika. Roast in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the lardons are golden brown. (Lardons can be made ahead of time and will store refrigerated for a week.)

For the lemon wheels: Blot the lemon wheels on a paper towel to remove some moisture. Add two tablespoons of canola oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Carefully place the lemon wheels in the pan and season them with salt. Let them brown before flipping them over. Once golden on both sides and a bit crisped, remove the lemon wheels from the pan and set them aside on paper towels.

For the Brussels sprouts: Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the cut Brussels sprouts on a baking tray, and toss with olive oil and season with salt. Mix by hand to evenly coat the sprouts. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes, turning every few minutes, until Brussels are nicely charred in places. Remove the sprouts from oven and place them in a bowl. Add the lardons, minced parsley, fried lemon wheels, and salt to taste. Mix well and serve.

For more culinary inspiration, check out previous Recipes of the Week here.

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