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.
Serves 4 to 6
For the Lemon Sauce
- Peel of 2 lemons, removed with a vegetable peeler
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 5 cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled
- 2 medium onions, cut into 1-inch chunks
- ½ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
For the Brussels Sprouts
- 1 ½ pounds firm, unblemished Brussel sprouts
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
WHAT YOU DO:
- For the lemon sauce, in a medium saucepan, combine the lemon peels and juice, garlic, onions, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1 ½ 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 mins 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 Brussel sprouts, trim any tough or yellow 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 all the leave 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 or 2 minutes. Add the sprout leaves, and season with salt and crushed red pepper flakes. Toss to coat in the oil, cover, and coo, shaking the pain 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 Brussel sprouts on top.