Brussels Sprouts Two Ways With Orzo

A few weeks ago I happened to be on my old grad school campus on a Wednesday, which happens to be the same day there is a small farmer's market on campus. Typically the market is breads, cookies and a few other items from Upper Crust Bakery and variety of produce, nuts, dried fruits and other products like honey and maple syrup from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania. A good rule of thumb for aspiring locavores out there is to never pass up a farmers market especially in winter. Fresh local foods are hard to come by and while the market was unsurprisingly dominated by root vegetables I did stumble across a recent addition to my repertoire: Brussels sprouts.

Early last year I embarked on what I called my foodie resolution. While I failed to systematically try or retry foods and post about them, I did grow a new fondness for many foods I previously never had or previously didn't like, blueberries being chief among the items I now love and previously was staunchly ambivalent about.

The two items that did make it onto this blog were Brussels sprouts and bacon and both happen to be in today's dish. Vegetarians, do not fret. I think this dish would be quite delicious without the bacon, but if you happen to be an omnivore and have some bacon in the fridge I would totally encourage it. Also please don't be daunted by the "two ways", I simply wanted to highlight the two things I like best about Brussels sprouts, but you could just pick one if you're crunched for time or wanting to keep things simple.

I "poached" half of the sprouts in butter and garlic until tender and soaked up the flavors. A friend made similar Brussels sprouts for me once and they tasted like a buttery vegetable version of a meatball.

The other half I shredded and roasted in the oven with bacon, olive oil and bacon fat until they turned crispy.

Finally I tossed it all with orzo, toasted pine nuts, sea salt, pepper, red chili flakes, oregano, basil, shaved Parmesan and fresh mozzarella. I particularly suggest fresh mozzarella because the flavor is killer, but the so is the contrast. The outside melts a little, but the inside retains its cool freshness. The best part, though, is that if you get the small balls of fresh mozzarella (ciliegine) they are roughly the same size as the whole Brussels sprouts!

In the end you get a fairly healthy dish dominated by the different flavor profiles of the Brussels sprouts with a little crunch, lots of cheese and lots of flavor.

Brussel Sprouts Two Ways With Orzo

by Leran

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients (Serves 6)

• 1 pound brussel sprouts
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 4 strips bacon (optional)
• 1 pound orza (or other preferred pasta)
• 2 oz pine nuts
• 1/2 cup olive oil (if you're using bacon you can replace some of this with bacon fat)
• 1 cup butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppered
• 1 teaspoon red chili flakes

For garnish (all to taste)

• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Red chili flakes
• Parmesan cheese (shaved or shredded)
• Small balls of mozzarella (technically called ciliegine)

Instructions

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Toast pine nuts while the oven warms up.

3. If using bacon, cook diced bacon in heavy skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. The bacon won't be fully cooked, but it will be in the oven for awhile. This initial cooking will ensure it gets crispy.

4. Trim bottom, yellow leaves and discolored leaves from sprouts. Wash well. Use half a pound if adding the butter poached sprouts, use full pound if made alone.

5. Using a food processor, grater or mandoline, shred the sprouts until they're individual leaves or Brussels sprout "confetti".

6. Toss sprouts with bacon, bacon fat, olive oil, chili flakes, sea salt, pepper and a bay leaf.

7. Roast until leaves brown and the mixture has a crunch to it. About 30-35 minutes.

For Butter Poached Brussels Sprouts

1. Trim bottom, yellow leaves and discolored leaves from sprouts. Wash well. Careful while trimming and washing to keep sprouts hole. Use half a pound if adding the roasted Brussels sprouts, use full pound if made alone.

2. Melt butter in the tallest, but smallest pot you own.

3. Add garlic and sprouts. Reduce to a simmer and cook until sprouts are tender, about 5 minutes, but no more than 10.

4. Remove from heat. Drain sprouts from butter. You can save the butter to use for garlic bread.

Assembly

1. Prepare orzo (or pasta of choice) regularly.

2. Meanwhile saute onion in olive oil, bacon fat or combination over medium heat until clear.

3. Mix pasta, onion and above recipes together in a large bowl with oregano and basil.

4. When serving add additional seasoning and Parmesan. Add mozzarella last.

5. Serve and enjoy alone or with bread.

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