Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Yes they do! I have a few recipes with Brussels, but the easiest way to cook them is in a soup, a bit like a minestrone, so that all the flavors from the other vegetables, plus the starch of pasta, 'improve' the distinctive taste of Brussels sprouts. Chop one onion, half a carrot and one celery stalk with leaves, sauté with a tbsp of olive oil and then add 1.5 l of vegetable stock. Simmer until the carrots are soft and then add the Brussel sprouts, a cube of frozen spinach and a handful of small pasta (like  stelline ). Simmer until the pasta and Brussels sprouts are cooked, add a little more extra virgin olive oil and black pepper to taste. Easy and yum!   Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Well, my husband, who doesn't particularly like brussels, approved of this one: you can't even see the sprouts :-) !! I used some ready made puff pastry as a base and arranged some brussels previously cooked this way  (click link). I added about half a cup of grated edam cheese, and then mixed 3 eggs with one cup of vegetable stock and poured it on top (no cream, vegetable stock works well if you like to cut the calories just a little :-). Bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes and serve. Really really yum! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

About myself I could say that I love broccoli, I like cauliflower, and I eat brussels sprouts. Do you like them? I think that I buy them about once a year, I did plant them once but I wasn't very successful: they opened up like little cabbages (maybe it is not cold enough in Auckland) and they attracted lots of bugs. And nobody in the family is exactly 'crazy' about them. My husband saw my shopping bag and said 'Brussels???'. He wasn't looking forward to dinner. The kids didn't even remember the taste, since we eat them so rarely, but they hear horrible tales about them from other kids: nobody is supposed to like them. But I love variety, and if I cook the brussels slowly in veggie stock, and maybe with other vegetables, I think that they can be interesting. I put them in vegetables soups, like minestrone, and they don't seem bitter then. This time, instead, I wanted to cook them with other brassica, so a made a big brussels/cauli/broccoli mix....