Before I go any further I must nail my colours to the mast. This is a recipe that include Brussels Sprouts because when it comes to Brussels I am IN. And this is a recipe based around the cabbage-in-miniature (mainly because I had a bag of them, rapidly turning grey around the edges and I am determined to stop wasting food).
So, I had my sprouts, I had just under half a tub of ricotta, four bacon rashers and a handful of fresh chestnuts (all of which had played key parts in other recipes in the preceeding weeks). I wasn’t 100% sure that I could squeeze them all into the one dish – I knew sprouts+chestnuts+bacon would = edible, but the ricotta? And with what? Had to be pasta, and in the same sort of spirit as my use-it-up drive (an aspiration to ‘goodness’) I went with brown.
All good recipes start with an onion (well, apart from cakes/puddings/biscuits ‘cause that would be too weird) and that was where this one kicked off. Because I was adding bacon I eased off on adding oil and snipped my bacon into bits directly into the pan (using kitchen scissors) as the onion was cooking. Now, time for a confession. I then added garlic powder. Yes, I know. I feel quite shameful writing that down. It’s a guilty secret I’ve been keeping for the best part of a year now but I feel like this is a safe space in which to share. It has become a storecupboard standby for times when I’ve run out of garlic or simply cannot face any more chopping. Judge me, I don’t care.
(The great good thing about it is, it won’t catch if you’re cooking with little fat and so no horrid burnt-garlic tasting meals).
So, onion, garlic, bacon – ready for some sprouts which I trimmed of grey and then sliced up and added to my pan. It was at this point, too, that the chestnuts (roughly chopped to go further) went in. All mixed together and then a teeny bit of liquid (ok, a slosh of sherry) went in. The pan lid was bunged on and the whole thing was turned to the lowest settting on the hob so that the sprouts could steam and soften and the flavours could blend together whilst the pasta was cooking. Now, I did mean to add some pasta water to loosen the sprouts up a bit and make sure the whole thing wasn’t too dry but tbh, I forgot and drained my pasta without thinking. This was when the ricotta came into its own and I flecked it into the sauce – now mixed with the pasta – in little chunks using the back of a teaspoon. Salt, pepper and a few sprigs of fresh parsley and that was that. Not only tasty but checking two taste boxes in one dish: Italiautumnal pasta/chestnuts/bacon/ricotta on the one hand and Christmas mash-up on the other with the Sprouts/chestnuts/parsley vibe.
(no picture, sadly, so instead an autumnal sunset viewed through bare trees)
Growing Up Great 