Twelve years ago, you couldn’t walk into a restaurant and not get fried Brussels sprouts with a spicy sauce or something. It was like wildfire. This Recipe for Brussels Sprouts with Bacon is the 2020s redux version of something we all used to love that got beaten down so hard from triple-trickle-down restaurant folks. But these fried Brussels deserve to live again because this is something special.
The deep caramelization from frying combined with that super-bouncy crunch of the raw is world class. Wow. Let’s honor the 2010s.
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Mint, Pistachio, Fish Sauce, Pickled Pepper Caramel, and Lime
SERVES 4 TO 6
PREP TIME: 1 HOUR
Ingredients:
- 1 red bell pepper 1 jalapeño
- 1 scotch bonnet
- 2 Thai chiles
- 2 red serrano peppers
- ½ cup fish sauce
- 1 cup white vinegar 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 4 pounds Brussels sprouts, half halved and half shaved
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 4 ounces bacon
- 1 cup pistachios, toasted and chopped
- ½ bunch mint, finely chopped Zest and juice of 1 lime
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 450°F.
- Take the stems off the peppers. In a blender, puree the red bell pepper, jalapeño, scotch bonnet, Thai chiles, serranos, fish sauce, and vinegar.
- While the peppers are blending, start your caramel. In a small pot over medium- low heat, combine the sugar and water and reduce until thickened and dark amber in color. This will take time and you need to keep stirring it pretty consistently. Then add the blended peppers mixture into your caramel and stir to combine.
- Turn the heat off and remove the pan and let it chill out for a second. Don’t want it to be fudge.
- On a baking sheet, toss your halved Brussels sprouts and bacon in olive oil and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Roast until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let them cool for 10 minutes. Then cut your bacon into small pieces, about a quarter of an inch.
- In a large bowl, combine the roasted Brussels sprouts and bacon with the pistachios. Don’t add all the caramel in at once. Add it gradually and toss everything together.
- Plate the salad on a nice platter. Cover with the shaved Brussels sprouts, mint, and lime zest and juice. Toss and serve to your best friends only, no borderline people, only ride-or-dies.
Soups, Salads, Sandwiches by Matty Matheson. Matty Matheson, known for his bold, innovative flavors, has created a cookbook that will revolutionize how you think of these kitchen basics. This book is for anyone and everyone, offering up Matty’s signature twists on the classics, delivered with minimal effort for maximum flavor. Packed with character, personal stories, scrumptious recipes, and vivid photographs of a day-in-the-life with Matty and his family, Soups, Salads, Sandwiches will have you fearlessly whipping up your own combinations in the kitchen.
Excerpted from Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches by Matty Matheson. Copyright © 2024 Matty Matheson. Photographs by Quentin Bacon. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
