Pasta with Bacon, Brussels Sprouts

I love pasta! I could eat it every night. There are so many combinations and possibilities; I think you could go years without ever preparing the same recipe. I’ve been trying to use more whole grain pasta and make recipes that have vegetables. At least that way it’s sort of good for you. If you’re a brussels sprouts fan, you know they are so good prepared with bacon. I had brussels sprouts that needed to be used up and a couple of slices of leftover bacon, so I decided to see if I could find a recipe to use them up. I wish I was better at just creating a recipe myself!! The flavors in this recipe are so clean and crisp. The sage and the brussels sprouts are delicious together!



Pasta With Brussels Sprouts and Bacon
Courtesy of Martha Stewart Living
6 ounces bacon (about 7 slices), cut into 3/4-inch pieces
Up to 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
4 large shallots, cut into thin rounds
1 1/4 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved (quartered if large)
1 1/4 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
12 ounces rigatoni pasta
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh sage leaves, about 20 leaves
Directions
1.Heat a dry large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon; cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Add enough oil to bacon fat in skillet to total 2 tablespoons. Add garlic, shallots, and sprouts; cook, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Add stock; season with salt and pepper. Cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed and sprouts are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
2.Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil; add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta. Cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid; return pasta to pot.
3.Stir in sprouts mixture, reserved 1/2 cup cooking liquid, and cheese. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil; add sage and bacon. Toss until combined. Serve with more cheese.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's and Tuesday's at the Table.

Spicy Brussels Sprouts

How do you record your thoughts, ideas and potential recipes to blog about? I have a notebook I carry with me. When I have a thought or hear about a recipe I want to make, I jot it down. Quite some time ago, I made a note to make David Chang's Brussels Sprouts recipe. Last weekend, as I was sorting my stack of recipe clippings, I found the recipe from November 2009's Food & Wine.

I halved the brussels sprouts, coated them in olive oil and kosher salt and roasted them in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. I didn't have any fish sauce, so I substituted chicken broth. To prevent this recipe from being too spicy, I omitted the red chili. I love the idea of rice krispies being the topping for the brussels sprouts. Having your oil just the right temperature is they key to browning and not burning the rice krispies. Mine was a little too hot and we raced to turn off the alarm so the smoke detector didn't set it off. Seems I do that a lot in my kitchen. I also learned to be really cautious when pouring the cayenne pepper into the already smoking oil. That's one way to clean out your sinuses.

I really enjoyed the sweet and salty flavors of this recipe. Tim said he liked them but preferred this recipe.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Baked Pasta Casserole

I feel like I've gotten pretty good at my "Use It Up" game the past few weeks. Costco, my favorite place to buy veggies, has a large bag of brussels sprouts for the price you would pay for a smaller bag at a grocery store. We had these brussles spouts recently. I wanted to find something a little less traditional with the remaining sprouts. I found this recipe on 101 Cookbooks. If you haven't been to Heidi's blog, you should check it out. She takes amazing pictures and posts wonderful recipes.

I made some changes to Heidi's recipe, based on what I had on hand. Her recipe called for spinach, I substituted the brussels sprouts. I omitted the lemon zest called for in the recipe and used a shallot instead of an onion.

I served this as a side dish but it could easily be a meatless main dish. I loved this recipe. I wish the cheese was just a little more melty, something I will work on for next time. I didn't really expect my husband to like this pasta but he did.





Baked Pasta Casserole Recipe
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 pound pasta shells
sea salt
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups thinly sliced brussels sprouts
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, lightly toasted
8 ounces mozzerella, shredded or torn into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter/oil a large casserole dish or baking pan - something roughly equivalent to 13x9-inch pan.
Boil the pasta in salted water per package instructions. Drain pasta, toss with a glug of olive oil. Set aside.
In the meantime, heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high. Saute the shallots with a couple pinches of salt for a few minutes (or if you want a bit more depth of flavor until caramelized). Stir in garlic. Stir in brussels sprouts. You may need to add a little more oil. Cook until sprouts are softened, about 5- 7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of the almonds. Add to pasta and stir and stir - mixing extremely well, a minute or so. Add a layer of the pasta to the bottom of the baking pan, now sprinkle with some of the cheese, add more pasta, then more cheese. Finish with a layer of cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese on top is bubbly and melty. Top with remaining almonds.

I am linking this post to Tasty Tuesday's at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Golden Crusted Brussels Sprouts

While shopping at Costco recently, my husband suggested we purchase brussels sprouts! Amazing! This is a guy who a year or so ago refused to even think about eating brussels sprouts.

I have a couple of brussels sprouts recipes that we love. There's this one, given to me by son and this one I found on the internet! I wanted to make something different this time. I found this recipe on 101 Cookbooks, Heidi Swanson's wonderful blog!

These are delicious and so easy to make!



I am sharing this with all of the other Foodie Friday participants over at Designs by Gollum. Check them out, there's a ton of great posts.

Golden Crusted Brussels Sprouts
24 small brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice - I used Robusto

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil).

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don't overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they're tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese.

Holiday Dinner

You gotta love winter...okay maybe not so much. This week the midwest was blanketed with another snowstorm, our second one in weeks. We'd planned to celebrate Christmas with Tim's kids on Wednesday night but because of the weather they headed to their grandparents in Minnesota early.

We were planning on tapas for Christmas Eve dinner so why not have this dinner on Wednesday night anyway?

Menu
Deep Fried Turkey
Paula Deen's Cornbread Stuffing
Brussel Sprouts
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie*

*This is a January Sweet Melissa Sunday's post, so check back for this one!

This incredibly delicious Brussels Sprouts recipe is from my son Justin's recipe file.



Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts, Dijon and Crisp Crumbs
Fine Cooking

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. caraway seeds, toasted lightly and crushed
3/4 tsp. kosher salt; more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
2 lb. Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, cut through the core into quarters
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 cup coarse fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk 1/4 cup of the olive oil with the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, caraway seeds, 1/2 tsp. of the salt, and about 10 grinds of pepper. Add the Brussels sprouts and toss to thoroughly distribute the mustard mixture. Spread the sprouts in an even layer on the two baking sheets.

Roast until the cores of the sprouts are just barely tender and the leaves are browning and crisping a bit, 20 to 25 minutes (if your oven heat is uneven, rotate the pans midway through cooking).

While the sprouts are roasting, make the topping: Line a plate with two layers of paper towel. Heat the remaining 1 Tbs. oil with the butter in a medium (10-inch) skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter has stopped foaming, add the breadcrumbs all at once; toss to coat with the fat. Reduce the heat to medium, add the walnuts and the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt, and cook, stirring constantly, until the crumbs are browned and slightly crisp and the nuts are golden, 4 to 6 minutes. (The crumbs will start to sound “scratchy” as they get crisp.) Dump the breadcrumb mixture onto the paper towels to drain the excess fat.

Transfer the sprouts to a serving bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. Sprinkle the crumbs over the sprouts just before serving.

Make Ahead Tips
You can fry the crumb topping up to 2 hours before serving.

The New Green Bean??

Are brussels sprouts the new green bean? You can't read a food magazine, watch a food show or read a food blog these days without seeing a recipe for brussels sprouts.

I've always liked brussels sprouts, even growing up when they were boiled and didn't have the most appealing fragrance. It's amazing the wonderful toasted flavor, fragrance and color of roasted brussels sprouts. Even my husband, who is a green vegetable convert, likes these. Of course, that may have something to do with the bacon.



Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

2 (10-ounce) packages Brussels sprouts
2 ounce piece slab bacon cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Wash and then peel off any loose or damaged leaves from the sprouts. Trim the root end and cut each sprout in half.

Cook the bacon and walnuts in a large oven-proof skillet over medium heat until bacon just begins to crisp and walnuts are toasted, about 4 minutes. Transfer the bacon and walnuts with a slotted spoon to a bowl and set aside. Add the Brussels sprouts to the skillet and season with salt and pepper.

Put the pan in the oven and roast the Brussels sprouts for about 30 minutes, add the bacon and walnuts and continue to roast until the sprouts are cooked through and golden, about 10 to 15 minutes more.