{ Serves 4 }
If you’re not keen on Brussels sprouts, pretend you’ve forgotten and make this recipe anyway. I’m not their biggest fan, but I could eat a whole bowl of this. Try it.
1/4 cup pine nuts
Extra virgin olive oil
3 strips bacon, diced
8 ounces oyster mushrooms, roughly torn
Hazelnut oil
10 Brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved, and thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Maldon or other flaky salt
Agave nectar
1. In a small dry skillet over low heat, toast the pine nuts until golden, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often.
2. Get a sauté pan smoking hot and add a tiny bit of olive oil and the bacon. Cook until the bacon is nice and crispy, but don’t let it burn—you just want to cook the fat off and brown it a bit, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté until they have some color and have soaked up all the rendered bacon fat in the pan, about 4 minutes.
3. Pour a small lug of hazelnut oil into the pan. Add the Brussels sprouts and onion to the mixture and toss around for 30 seconds to 1 minute. You want to keep the green color and make sure they don’t get too wilted.
4. To finish it off, add the vinegar, a few good twists of pepper, salt, and a touch of agave nectar. Add the pine nuts, toss around again a few times, and serve.
