Sprouts gratinéed in a mustardy cheese sauce under a crisp, golden crumb, in the manner of cauliflower cheese
Origin: United Kingdom
From the journey of Brussels Sprout.
If the British have a way of making any vegetable irresistible, it is to bake it under a cheese sauce, and the Brussels sprout takes to the treatment as happily as its cousin the cauliflower. The Brussels sprout cheese bake is the sprout version of the beloved cauliflower cheese: blanched sprouts folded into a mustardy, mature-Cheddar béchamel, topped with more cheese and a handful of crumbs, and baked until the sauce bubbles and the top turns crisp and golden. It is a dish of the Sunday table and the Christmas sideboard, and a reliable way to win over even the sprout-sceptic, for the richness of the sauce rounds off any lingering bitterness. The gratin of a Brassica in white sauce is a thoroughly British comfort tradition, and the sprout, with its firm texture and slight sweetness when properly cooked, holds up well beneath the sauce where a softer vegetable might collapse. A good pinch of mustard and a sharp, mature Cheddar are what lift it; some cooks scatter crisp bacon or a little nutmeg through as well. Warming, rich, and golden-topped, the Brussels sprout cheese bake is the vegetable at its most comforting, and proof that the much-maligned sprout, treated kindly, belongs on the British table all winter long.
A handful of crisp bacon lardons stirred through before baking makes a heartier dish. The bake can be assembled ahead and refrigerated, then baked from cold (allow a little longer). It is a fine vegetarian centrepiece as well as a side.
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