Choux de Bruxelles aux Lardons

Brussels sprouts sautéed in butter with smoked lardons and shallots until tender and golden, in the French style

Origin: France

From the journey of Brussels Sprout.

Choux de Bruxelles aux lardons is the other great French way with the Brussels sprout, and the one most cooks reach for: the blanched sprouts sautéed in butter with smoked bacon lardons and sweet shallots until tender and lightly caramelised. It is the French bistro and home treatment of the vegetable, the smoky-salty pork and the soft shallot tempering the sprout and the high-heat sauté giving it the golden, nutty edge that long boiling never could. The dish belongs to the autumn and winter table, served as a garniture beside roast poultry, pork, or game, and it carries the unmistakable logic of the French kitchen: a humble vegetable lifted by good butter, good bacon, and proper technique. Halving the sprouts and giving them a cut-side-down moment in the hot pan, in the modern manner, deepens the caramelisation that makes the dish, an approach that anticipates the roasted and fried sprouts of the later American renaissance. Simple, savoury, and quick, choux de Bruxelles aux lardons shows the sprout dressed in the French idiom of butter, pork, and shallot that has carried so many vegetables to the table.

Ingredients

  • 600 g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
  • 150 g smoked bacon lardons
  • 2 shallots, finely sliced
  • 30 g butter
  • 1 tbsp water or chicken stock
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley, to finish (optional)

Method

  1. Blanch the halved sprouts in boiling salted water for 3 to 4 minutes, until barely tender. Drain well and pat dry.
  2. In a large frying pan over medium heat, fry the lardons in a little of the butter until the fat renders and they crisp and colour. Lift out and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.
  3. Add the rest of the butter to the pan, lay the sprouts cut-side down, and let them sit undisturbed for 2 to 3 minutes until deep golden.
  4. Add the shallots and toss, cooking for a few minutes more until the sprouts are tender and the shallots soft and sweet.
  5. Return the lardons to the pan, add the splash of water or stock to lift the browned bits, and toss together for a minute. Season with salt and pepper, scatter with parsley if using, and serve hot.

Notes

A squeeze of lemon or a splash of sherry vinegar at the end brightens the dish. Walnuts or chestnuts can be added with the lardons for a more festive version. This is a versatile garniture for almost any autumn or winter roast.

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Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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