Bejewelled Brussels Sprouts

It is the time of year when sprouts are in season. Love them or hate them you simply cannot get away from them. I will admit to not being a fan of the mini cabbages, but I will admit to changing!

This recipe has changed my opinions on these traditional Christmas vegetables. Last year I roasted them and started to come around to them. This year I decided to go one further and add some additional flavours to them.

The one thing that I find that sprouts are lacking is the sweet touch, something to make them more appealing. I know that red onions, when caramelising during cooking go perfectly with cabbage. So I decided to add those to the sprouts and some other flavours that I know go well with cabbage.

All of these flavours combined with the sprouts go together so perfectly and I now love sprouts!

This is what I did...

Bejewelled Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

200g Brussels Sprouts

8 rashers of smoked bacon, rind removed and chopped

1 red onion, thinly sliced

50g dried cranberries

50g chestnuts, chopped

Handful of pomegranate seeds

Spray olive oil

Method

1 - Steam the Brussels sprouts for 5 - 10 minutes or until they are starting to soften

2 - Heat some spray olive oil in a frying pan and add the chopped bacon and red onions and fry for 5 minutes

3 - While the bacon and onions are cooking slice the sprouts in half

4 - Add the sprouts and chestnuts to the frying pan and fry for 5 minutes over a medium heat

5 - Stir in the cranberries and cook for a further 5 minutes

6 - Before serving scatter over a handful of pomegranate seeds

All of these ingredients not only look amazing together but all of their flavours marry together to create such a flavoursome side dish you will not just want to serve it at Christmas, you will want it all year round!

Enjoy x