It somewhat saddens me to say that for my entire adult life, I hadn’t tried a brussels sprout until about a year or two ago. My reasoning, as far as I can conclude, is that I was perhaps scarred by tales of the horrors of them. I just remember images of little children consistently feeding them to the dog while Mom & Dad are distracted because of their imagined ‘vile, putrid’ taste. My Mom always had an aversion to them as well, as her own Mom had scarred her with flavorless and soggy sprouts as a child, hence why she never ate or served them to us.
All I can say is, boy was I an idiot.
What I pictured brussels sprouts to look like in my imagination for all of these years.
Or, perhaps my tastes have just changed and evolved for the better. I finally took note one evening at dinner at a local D.C. restaurant, when convinced by my brussels sprout-loving friend Cara, that it wasn’t that I ‘didn’t like’ these mini-cabbages per se. Then it dawned on me that I, in fact,, had no good reason not to try them at all. I love vegetables of about any kind, so indulge I did and I’ve never looked back! Now, I will admit that I did take baby steps and cheat a bit, cause for my first try, these were flash fried, so they were super crispy, and likely pretty bad for you, but they tasted very light and had the perfect amount of flavor, crunch and give.
How can you resist these gorgeous, aromatic beauties. Ok, well you will have to trust me on the aromatic part, but scout’s honor they smell beyond delicious when browned.
I have since had many a sprout, usually crisped up with a bit of olive oil and seasonings and pan fried, or oven baked. They are so darned rich, tasty and satiating, not to mention chock full of vitamins. But, I can say, as a relative novice to the sprout cult, that I have never had the pleasure of eating the stuffed version as laid out in this recipe. I ran across this gem on a fantastic little site while online recipe scouting. This sounds A-MAZING, and would make a fantastic little treat to put out on the table for guests as they mingle at your get-togethers, holidays or otherwise. Heck, get crazy…break ’em out at game night, you rebel!
The best part is that they naturally come in the PERFECT little bite-sized container for easy nibbling, without any embarrassing face-stuffing, or food-dropping incidents when served with a petit cocktail napkin. I can’t wait to give these a try! You can be sure to find more delicious recipes for these here in the future…
Garlic & Herb Stuffed Brussels Sprouts
Print recipe
| Serves | 30 |
| Prep time | 30 minutes |
| Cook time | 20 minutes |
| Total time | 50 minutes |
| Allergy | Milk |
| Dietary | Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Appetizer, Main Dish, Side Dish, Starter |
| Occasion | Casual Party |
| Website | Cooking Stoned |
Ingredients
- 15 Very Large Brussels Sprouts
- 1 cup Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
- 1 cup Parmesan Cheese (Shredded)
- 1/2 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
- 3 Cloves Garlic (Minced)
- 1 tablespoon Dried Thyme
- 1 tablespoon Dried Basil
- 1 teaspoon Dried Marjoram
- 1 teaspoon Dried Sage
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1 pinch Pepper
- 1 bottle Olive Oil
Directions
| Prep Work | |
| Step 1 | |
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The key to this recipe is large Brussels sprouts. You want them super-sized. After you wash them, trim the ends and then halve them as seen below. |  |
| Step 2 | |
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Fill a large, deep pan with water, bring it to a boil and add the sprouts. You want to add them cut-side down, since we are doing this to make coring them easier. Let them cook for 1-2 minutes and remove them and let them cool. This will soften them to make them much easier to manage while coring. |  |
| Step 3 | |
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Core the blanched, halved sprouts. |  |
| Filling Prep | |
| Step 4 | |
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Finely chop the cored Brussels sprouts pieces. We are going to saute them in some olive oil along with the minced garlic until over a medium-high heat. Cook until the chopped sprouts are tender and the whole mixture is aromatic. |  |
| Step 5 | |
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Mix the cooked garlic and sprout mixture along with the ricotta, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and herbs. Add in some of the salt and taste the mixture. Ideally, you want it to taste a bit overly salted because it will be less salty once they are baked. So you’ll need to experiment a bit here. |  |
| Stuffing the Sprouts | |
| Step 6 | |
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Using a small spoon, fill the Brussels sprouts with the stuffing. Over fill them. This stuff is good! |  |
| Baking the Sprouts | |
| Step 7 | |
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Bake the stuffed Brussels sprouts for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees, or until the caps are crispy and burnt like the photo below. Enjoy! |  |
