Side Dish ~ Bacon Brussels Sprouts

I’ll be up front right now; I have a lot of side dishes coming your way! Normally, my protein is the star and hogs all the glory but lately, I’ve been making my side dishes the star and the main protein has taken the back seat a bit. It’s nice to change things up a bit!

I’ll give you a few hints…. You’ll see some beets and some cauliflower, maybe some cucumbers and even some broccoli stems in LSL posts in the near future. I know, you’re intrigued by the broccoli stems aren’t you? Why should the florets get all the attention?? The stems are wonderful!

Well, I guess we should put those all aside for the time being and let the Brussels sprouts be star today!

When I went to university in North Carolina, I learned a few things about southern food. It’s where I learned to love grits, and appreciate fried dill pickles. It’s also where I learned to REALLY love bacon; including the fat that was rendered during cooking.

In this bacon Brussels sprouts side dish, the bacon is cooked first, rendering out the fat. The sprouts are then cooked in the rendered fat. Only four ingredients are needed to bring this dish together. And come together it does! Crispy bacon, tender browned sprouts with crunchy edges and caramelized shallots that are like oniony, bacony slightly sweetened little gems speckled throughout the dish. A little bit of sea salt finished off the dish at the very end.

Hungry yet?

This side dish works with roast chicken, pork tenderloin, or even a turkey. It isn’t usually one that I make with a roast beef or steaks though. I find the side dish to be quite rich and then the red meat to be quite rich too. They compete and we wouldn’t want that. No. Perfect harmony is what we are after.

Print

Side Dish ~ Bacon Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

• 2 thick slices of bacon cut into small pieces American style ~ I used speck
• 10 - 12 Brussels sprouts of similar size cleaned, trimmed and cut in half
• 1 small shallot sliced thinly
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400*F (200*C)
2. Heat an oven proof fry pan over medium heat.
3. Place bacon in the pan and cook to render the fat out. If there isn't much fat a bit of oil might be needed to keep the bacon from sticking.
4. Once the bacon has browned, remove from the pan and set aside.
5. Keep about 1Tbsp of bacon fat in the pan.
6. Add sliced shallot to the pan and saute for a few minutes until it starts to brown.
7. Add Brussels sprouts and toss to coat.
8. Once they begin to brown move to the oven to finish cooking.
9. Cook 10 - 15 minutes until brown and cooked through.
10. Serve topped with reserved bacon and sprinkled with salt.

Recipe Notes

***Speck is very similar to American style bacon and works wonderfully in this recipe. I buy it in a slab and cut as required.