Garlicky Smashed Brussels Sprouts, a Crowd Pleaser

A Festive Way to Enjoy Brussels Sprouts

I know. These Brussels sprouts have quite a lot of steps and they can’t be quick. I’m with you! When I saw this recipe from chejorge, I told myself, ‘Forget about it, too many steps! Boil and then roast? No way!’ But then after a few secs, ‘Wait…..It looks really Yummy! Should I give it a try?’

And here we go!

Usually, I’ll just pan-sear it , season with salt and pepper, done. Today, I put a little bit more effort into cooking it in a festive way. And my effort paid off! It was really tasty!

A Few Notes Before You Cook

1) Roast Brussels Sprouts with other Veg to Save Energy

toss with oil, together with other vegetables to roast at the same time.

Since an oven is required, I didn’t want to use that much energy just to roast 16 pcs of Brussels sprouts. That’s why I also roasted some potatoes and chicken wings at the same time, and cooked a quick soup. That’s today’s lunch.

2) Reduce Hotness with Paprika Powder

In the original recipe, the author calls for gochugaru, a Korean red chilli powder. I don’t have it on hand, and I don’t eat too spicy, so I replaced it with paprika powder which offers a nice red colour with a subtle hotness.

3) Golden Garlic is another Shining Star

Not only are the Brussels sprouts crowd-pleasing, the beautifully cooked golden garlic should not be forgotten as well. But remember, you need some patience to slowly fry the garlic, so that it won’t get burnt before the oil gets the wonderfully infused garlic aroma.

Gentle fried golden garlic on top of smashed Brussels sprouts.

Ingredients

Serves: 2

16 pieces Brussels sprouts
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp paprika powder
a pinch of salt
fresh coriander for garnish

How to Make Garlicky Smashed Brussels Sprouts

Trim off Brussels sprouts’ bottom parts. Don’t cut off too much, because you want the outer leaves to keep intact. Preheat oven to 200ºC with fan mode.
Bring a pot of water to the boil, add 1% salt, boil the Brussels sprouts for 8-10 mins. Then pat them dry, and use a flat bottom (e.g. a pot’s bottom) to smash them into a disk shape.
Spread out the Brussels sprouts into a single layer on parchment paper, toss well and even with oil. Roast in an oven for about 25 mins. In between, keep an eye on them in case they get too burnt. Also you can flip them to the other side on mid-way.
Meanwhile, prepare the garlic oil. Put the garlic, paprika powder/chilli powder, oil and a pinch of salt in a cold pan, heat them up at low heat, until they become very fragrant.
Pour the garlic oil onto the roasted Brussels sprouts, sprinkle some coriander on top and enjoy!