Brussels Sprout Hash

My friend Sarah mentioned making this and I was fascinated by the concept. When I read the recipe she gave me it sounds good. Then I thought, this would be even better with bacon!. And low, it came to pass and it was pretty darn good with bacon.

Everything is better with bacon!

Brussels Sprout Hash
Servings: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. bacon, roughly chopped
• 1 lb. Brussels sprouts, quartered length-wise
• 2 lb. white or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut to match the size of quartered sprouts
• 1 onion, 1/2″ dice
• 1 red pepper, cored and cut into 1/2″ dice
• 3 cloves garlic (or 1 large cloves if the head you have is weird like that)
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tsp. California paprika
• 1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest
• kosher salt & cracked black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook for 5-10 minutes until fat is rendered.
2. While bacon cooks place the sprouts and potatoes in a microwave safe bowl, add 1 Tbsp. water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes. Drain water and hold.
3. Using a slotted spoon move the bacon to a plate lined with a couple of layers of paper towels. Drain the bacon fat from the pan, reserving 3-4 Tbsp. for use in this dish.
4. Return 2 Tbsp. of bacon fat to the pan and reduce heat to medium. Add the sprouts and potatoes. Toss to coat, cover and ignore for 5 minutes. Give the pan a toss to move the contents about and ignore for another 5 minutes. Repeat one more time, for 15 minutes of cooking total.
5. Add another Tbsp. bacon fat to the pan along with the onion, pepper, garlic, thyme, paprika and lemon zest. Stir to incorporate everything and recover. Cook for another 10-15 minutes, repeating this ignore for 5 minutes increments.
6. Return the bacon to the pan and combine. Taste for flavor, add salt and pepper as needed. Serve up along with some crusty bread. Drizzle with a bit of the remaining bacon fat if desired.

Notes:
While I cooked this as dinner one night I can totally see it being a great side dish, similar to Irish colcannon.

I used a 12″ wide “family skillet” from Pampered Chef to make this. The straight sides mean more space in the bottom of the pan so that the sprouts and potatoes fit in a single layer.

Confession time – I slightly burnt this in the last 5 minutes of cooking. That’s what I get for second guessing the burner setting and turning it up. It still came out very tasty.