Reluctant as I am to keep on banging the old ‘If you think you don’t like Brussels sprouts, try this’ drum, I feel compelled to do so once in a while. Cook your sprouts lightly, reduce them to a thick, chunky purée with butter, cream, shallots and garlic, then see how you feel. Salty bacon is an obvious companion, and I’ve recently discovered that adding black pudding works really well too. It has a slightly mealy texture that provides the perfect ballast.
Serves 4
250g Brussels sprouts, trimmed
25g butter
2 shallots or ½ small onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, chopped
50ml double cream
A dash of sunflower, rapeseed or olive oil
8 rashers of streaky bacon
4 good, chunky slices of black pudding (about 125g in total), peeled
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the sprouts and cook for 6–8 minutes, until tender. Drain well.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small frying pan over a medium heat and add the shallots or onion and garlic. Cook gently for 5–10 minutes until softened.
Tip the contents of the frying pan into a food processor and add the sprouts and cream. Blitz briefly to a purée – I prefer to keep it fairly coarse. Season well with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add a dash of oil, then the bacon and fry for a few minutes, turning as necessary, until crisp. Push the bacon to the sides of the pan, add the black pudding and fry for 2–3 minutes on each side.
Divide the sprout purée between warm plates and top with the black pudding and crisp bacon. Add a sprinkling of salt and pepper and serve.
PLUS ONE To make a real meal of this lovely dish, serve with some toasted sourdough bread or fried potatoes.
PLUS TWO And to make it a deliciously greedy treat, top the black pudding with a fried egg!