The sheer fact that I have decided B is for brussels sprout when the tiny brassica has competition from beetroot, borage, broccoli, butternut, bell peppers, bamboo shoots and bean sprouts is a testament to my adoration for the controversial vegetable.
To be honest I don’t know why they remain so unpopular – to start with their bitterness has been cultivated out of them so they are manageable even without salt, and secondly… they look like toys. They’re cabbages which would fit in a doll’s house! They’re the size of ping pong balls and you can play marbles with them! When they’re growing on their stalk like the vegetable version of grapes they look like something a Morris dancer would twirl! Just look at the little children flick them across their plates at Christmas time – they’ll grow up to be cricket bowlers! When you consider the British penchant for undersized vegetables (baby leeks, baby corn, baby carrots) it’s hard to understand why sprouts are considered some sort of evil fart-bomb. Then I realised – sprouts keep getting eaten wrong.
Yes I said it! In fact, you’ll often find that if you dislike a vegetable, by being cooked a radically different way it might just change your mind. A boiled cauliflower tastes completely and utterly different to a roasted one, and the same is true of brussels sprouts. Steamed or boiled, brussels sprouts quickly acquire the sulphurous hum of hell, only to be combated by generous amounts of sharp, sharp salad dressing or else goat cheese. If you want a tasty brussel sprout to start with, you have-have-have to roast it. Cooked this way, they are like the popcorn of the vegetable world. Roasting sprouts rather reminded me of how tofu is so broadly hated, but again, it must be roasted to be likeable. The combination of the two led me to create this light, wintry dinner, which is simply my favourite thing to cook. Do it in November-January, when all the sprouts, pomegranates and hazelnuts are in season. It sounds like a crazy flavour combination, but trust me. You must remember to add some bulgur wheat or something if you want more of a meal.
Winter tofu traybake, to serve 2
- Set the oven to 190ºC fan. Use the fan to ensure maximum crispiness. Line a baking tray with foil. Use foil to ensure maximum crispiness.
- Drain then chop 1 block of firm tofu weighing about 250-300g, and put in a big mixing bowl along with 4 whole peeled garlic cloves (or halved if quite big) (optional). In a small, clean jar with a lid, pour 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (or other sweet, fruity vinegar), a drop of runny honey or other syrup and 1/2 tbsp wholegrain mustard. Put the lid on the jar and shake it, then pour this dressing over the tofu and toss the tofu to slick the lot. Put to one side.
- Begin the long-winded but undemanding task of thoroughly washing – and peeling away dead leaves if necessary – from 400g or so Brussels sprouts (it sounds like a lot, but they are the main thing in this meal). Halve all the sprouts and arrange on the baking tray, making sure as many as you can be bothered to flip are cut-side up.
- Scoop the tofu and garlic cloves onto the tray, then pour the remaining marinade dressing over the sprouts. Roast for 20 minutes.
- Whilst the sprouts are roasting, de-seed 1/2 a large, heavy pomegranate into a bowl and get out 50g hazelnuts. Incidentally, my preferred method of de-seeding pomegranates is ripping it apart over a bowl and flicking the seeds from the pith. Yes, this is a handsy recipe, but so worth it. You can use pre-packed if you prefer/must.
- Take the tray out the oven, sprinkle over the hazelnuts, and roast for a further 10 minutes.
- Dish up the traybake, topping each portion with half of the pomegranate seeds. This is not a garnish, but an important flavour component. Don’t substitute it for anything else.
- Eat and be surprised that sprouts, hazelnuts and pomegranate taste so good together.
Notes: If you really do have to substitute the pomegranate seeds because pomegranates are just too hard to buy and you don’t live in the Med, I suppose you may roast 150g cherry tomatoes with the sprouts, but use almonds instead of hazelnuts. Hazelnuts and tomatoes are not happy bedfellows.
