Serves Serves 4
Notes
You can prep the sprouts ahead of time, but don’t cook them until the last minute. The lemon sauce can be made earlier in the day and reheated. This recipe will make more lemon sauce than you need, but it is great on almost all other cooked vegetables and keeps in the refrigerator for several days.
Ingredients
- LEMON SAUCE
- Peel of 2 lemons, removed with a vegetable peeler
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
- 2 medium onions, cut into 1-inch chunks
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- BRUSSELS SPROUTS
- 1½ pounds firm, unblemished Brussels sprouts
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Directions
For the lemon sauce, in a medium saucepan, combine the lemon peels and juice, garlic, onions, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1½ cups water. Cover, and cook at a gentle simmer for 20 minutes.
Uncover, and simmer a bit more rapidly until the onions are very tender and barely covered in liquid, about 20 to 30 minutes more. Scrape the contents of the pot into a blender, and carefully blend as you drizzle in the olive oil through the hole in the top, until smooth. Return to the saucepan, season with salt if necessary, and keep warm.
For the Brussels sprouts, trim any tough or yellowed outer leaves. Trim about ¼ inch from the base to free the outer leaves. Pluck off the leaves, trimming more of the base to loosen them as you go. Once you get to the tiny heart of the sprout and the leaves can’t be separated, just cut into slivers. Separate the leaves from all of the sprouts this way.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, and let it sizzle until just golden around the edges, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sprout leaves, and season with the salt and crushed red pepper flakes. Toss to coat in the oil, cover, and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the leaves begin to wilt, about 4 minutes. Toss with tongs and cover the skillet again.
Cook until the leaves are wilted and tender but not falling apart, about 4 to 5 minutes more. Increase the heat to boil away any liquid in the pan. To serve, spread about ½ cup of the lemon sauce on a platter, and mound the Brussels sprouts on top.
