Brussels sprouts and chestnuts

Perfect sprouts complemented by sweet shallots and chestnuts, cooked the English way.

This recipe emphasises the flavour and texture of the sprouts while making the most of the accompanying shallots and chestnuts.

Ingredients

450 g

brussels sprouts

180 g

shallots

200 g

cooked chestnuts

50 g

best butter

30 ml

FAIRTRADE olive oil

to taste

salt and pepper

Method

Preparation

Remove the outer leaves of each sprout to produce fresh green attractive sprouts.

Skin the shallots and slice into chunks a bit smaller than the smallest sprout.

Chop the chestnuts into pieces roughly half the size of the smallest sprout.

Cooking

Heat a pan of water (enough to just cover the sprouts) to boiling, add the sprouts, bring back to the boil.

Simmer vigorously for 4 minutes.

Drain, and in the hot pan, toss the sprouts with the butter until all of them are coated. Season generously with salt and pepper, and keep the sprouts warm.

Whilst the sprouts simmer, fry the shallot chunks in the olive oil for 3 to 5 minutes until they just start to brown. Add the chestnut pieces and fry until heated through (1 to 2 minutes).

Add the buttery sprouts and reheat until the butter starts to foam.

Turn out into a warmed serving dish and serve immediately.

To Serve

Serve hot as a side dish.

Variation

To add a further dimension of texture and taste, slice up 4 rashers of dry cured salty bacon and pre-cook those to just done before adding the shallots.

At need, replace the shallots with small chunks of chopped onion.