Om Nom Nom

Last weekend, a friend introduced me to Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts are a member of the cabbage family, and I’m not sure why they get such a bad reputation. They are delicious…like little mini cabbages.

Originally, my friend made a delicious dish where he roasted them in the oven with herbs and bacon. However, I decided to incorporate the unused sprouts into a pasta dish. Since summer is the season of lemonade, and I just so happened to have a lemon in my fridge I ended up with a lemony pasta.

Servings: 3 Medium Servings, 2 Hungry Servings
Preparation: 30 Minutes
Skill Level: Easy 
Ingredients:

•  9 ounces Fresh Pasta (I used Linguine)
• 1 1b Brussels Sprouts
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1 tsp dried Basil
• 1 tsp dried Parsley
• Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tbl Butter
• 2-3 Artichokes, from a jar
• 1 Roasted Red Pepper, from a jar

Method:

1. Put pasta water on to boil, in accordance with package directions. 
2. While awaiting boiling, prepare the Brussels sprouts. Place a saucepan with about 1 inch of water on to boil. Wash the sprouts, cut off the bottom tip, and remove any tough looking outer leaves.
3. Parboil the sprouts for 3-4 minutes, they should still be vibrant green, but beginning to soften.
4. Strain the sprouts, then run under cold water to stop cooking. Cut them in half and set aside.
5. When the sprouts are cooking, you can begin to prepare the sauce. Zest and juice the lemon.
6. Combine lemon zest, juice, cheese, olive oil, basil and parsley. Add salt and pepper.
7. Chop artichokes and peppers, set aside.
8. In a frying pan, melt the butter on the stove and add the sprouts. Cook on medium high heat until fully cooked. The internet says not to overcook them, which would cause them being bitter. Mine took about 6 minutes.
9. While the sprouts are sauteing, cook the pasta. Note that because I used fresh pasta it only took 4 minutes. If you are using dried pasta, start it earlier since it takes a bit longer to cook.
10. When pasta is fully cooked, add 1/4 cup of the pasta water to thin the sauce. Strain the pasta, place back in the pot, and add the sauce, sauteed sprouts, artichokes, and roasted red peppers. Toss to combine and enjoy with a couple slices of garlic bread.

Yum!