Creamy Brussel Sprouts Au Gratin for Thanksgiving

Who said Brussel Sprouts have to be awful? I am biased to talk about cruciferous vegetables (aka cauliflower, cabbage,cress,broccoli, bok choy, etc), because I love them all. But many people tend not to like their taste, and only eat them because of their amazing health benefits. They are high in vitamin C, soluble fiber, and potential anticancer properties.

Here is a recipe that I keep making every year, and it is always the star of the party. It doesn’t matter who comes for dinner, I always hear: “No thanks, I am not a Brussel Sprouts’ fan.” But I always insist,” Just try it, you will not regret it”…and guess what? They end up eating the whole thing, hahaha.

This is the one dish that I can never get enough, because there are no leftovers to tell the story.

So be brave, go ahead and try this recipe. I promise you will love it.

Creamy Brussel Sprouts Au Gratin

6 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs Brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved through the stem end
• 2 ½ tbs unsalted butter, melted

• 1 tbs sea salt or kosher salt, divided
• Freshly ground pepper
•  1 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs
• 6 slices bacon, fried until crisp, crumbled, reserve drippings (divided- approx. 1 ½ tbs)- you can skip the bacon if you don’t eat pork, just substitute for roasted chestnuts or pecans
• ¼ cup finely grated Gruyere cheese, or any cheese you have at home mixed with 1 1/2 cup of heavy cream

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425. Put the Brussels Sprouts in a sheet pan on a single layer. Toss with melted butter, ¾ tsp salt and pepper. Roast, tossing a few times, until tender, crisp and brown on ends for about 25 min.
   

   Roasted Brussel Sprouts

2. Combine bread crumbs with 1 tbs bacon fat and 1/8 tsp salt.
3. In a oven proof dish, pour cream and cheese over the Brussel sprouts, add bacon, and continue baking until it thickens as a sauce, for about 7 minutes and stir and bake for 5 minutes.
4. Remove dish from the oven and sprinkle the bread crumbs mix over and bake it until the crust is golden brown, for about 5 min.
5. If you chose to skip the bacon, now is the time to add the roasted chestnuts or roasted pecans.

Enjoy

Tags: au gratin, bacon, brussel sprouts, cruciferous, gruyere, recipe, thanksgiving