Seventies dinner party sprouts

Servings:

The title of this dish is codswallop, actually – these sprouts are extremely unlikely to have featured at a 70s dinner party, seeing as this era still saw green stuff boiled into oblivion, and because these parties were about showcasing flavours and ingredients that weren’t your run of the mill weeknight meat-n-three. Like, say: soy sauce and caraway seeds. The ultimate compliment was a request for The Recipe, which would oft-times be handed over hand-written, and is how my in-laws (ergo, me, ergo, you) came to be in possession of Rob’s Rump Marinade. It’s originally for lamb fillet (and delicious, if you’re that way inclined), but brussels sprouts are so savoury and, well, meaty, that this marinade works equally as well – if not better, seeing as you can serve it alongside any main you like, and it still feels like a party.

Ingredients

▢ 500 g brussels sprouts trimmed and halved
▢ 2 tbsp honey preferably runny
▢ 2 tbsp light soy sauce
▢ 3 tbsp peanut oil
▢ 1 tsp ground coriander
▢ 1 tsp caraway seeds
▢ ¼ tsp cayenne
▢ 2-3 cloves garlic minced
▢ Roasted peanuts & fresh chilli to garnish optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220℃ with heavy-based roasting pan/oven tray already inside.
Meanwhile, make up your marinade in a shallow dish by stirring all of the ingredients together until combined. Arrange the Brussels sprouts cut side down in the marinade to help it soak in.
When the oven has heated up, give the sprouts one last stir through the marinade and pop onto the hot tray by holding onto it with an oven glove while you tong them on, face side down again. Roast for 10 minutes or until the top leaves of the sprouts are basically burnt.
Serve with roughly chopped roasted peanuts and chopped red chilli (if using) or just plonk into a bowl and smugly serve – it’s sure to turn even the most bullish brassica denier into a believer.

Notes

Top tips:

- Preheating the tray helps get more of a golden crust on the sprouts. Feel free to line it before popping the sprouts in, if you’re a stickler, leave unlined if you like to live dangerously.

- I like to use an appropriately sized Pyrex or equivalent storage vessel for marinading purposes so that I can pop leftovers in there and save on washing up.

- If you do decide to give this one a whirl with lamb, try using lamb eye fillet rather than rump, and pull back on the honey – just the 1 tablespoon should do it.

Dietaries:

You can sub in maple syrup instead of honey to turn this one fully plant-based.

Recipe appears in In Praise of Veg (Murdoch, 2020)