I used to loathe these little green brain-looking things. And after that kind of attitude, it’s no wonder it took me until my late 20’s to truly come to appreciate them. Now I’ve just gotta work on my daughter. When I cook them, she inevitably lurches into the kitchen, clutching her nose and nasally complaining that the house stinks. She should be on the stage. OK, so they’re not the most spectacular smelling things (though my mouth will water at the smell now). That’s why we cook them with things like bacon…and cheese. And that has just prompted me to make a note of the bacon for these for a later variation. Onward for now…
The recipe calls for goat cheese, which is pretty tangy stuff. I like me some goat cheese, but next time I just might try this with ricotta for a less tangy tasting experience. It just depends on what kind of cheese sounds good at the time.
And I will definitely add bacon. No apologies.
First you need to halve all the sprouts as evenly as possible, lengthwise. Don’t trim them too much or you’ll just cut off the tip that keeps all the leaves in place. They’ll get a quick cook in some boiling water after prepping. Next, prep the chives and garlic for the filling.
When the sprouts have cooled a little from their microwaving, take a melon baller tool thingamajig and dig out the middle sections. This is best accomplished by putting a finger or two on the rounded end, starting the tool at the trimmed end. Push down through the meat of the sprout, rounding up towards your fingers as you go. Be careful if your melon baller is the type that’s a little sharp. Holding the one end with my fingers helped to keep the melon baller from scooping out the entire inside of the sprout. You’ll need a still-slightly-meaty wall for the filling. If some sprouts get most of their innards scooped out, no worries. They still might hold up well enough once filled.
It’s all smooth, easy sailing from here. Time to fill these wittle guys and gals! We were able to slightly overfill each one, kind of like you would with deviled eggs.
The finishing touch is a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Aaaand this is what they look like finished! Now how could anyone resist those? Sprouts smell goood baking in the oven, too. Maybe one day my kiddo’s taste buds will blossom to appreciate stuff like this.
But I’m not holding my breath it’ll be soon!
The individuality of each sprout makes them a fun addition to a meal as a side dish, and they’d work great as an appetizer, too. They’re best served warm and are perfectly pop-able! Enjoy!
Brussels Sprouts Stuffed with Cheese
from Anita at Hungry Couple who adapted it from Cooking Stoned
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: about 22 minutes Level: easy Makes: 15-20 sprouts
- 15 whole Brussels Sprouts (choose Large Ones)
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 clove Garlic, Minced
- 4 ounces, weight Goat Cheese
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 2 ounces, fluid, Milk, Buttermilk Or Half-and-Half
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Chives, Chopped
- ¼ cups Panko Breadcrumbs (seasoned Panko Is Great)
- ¼ cups Parmesan Cheese, Grated
- Salt And Pepper, to taste
Wash the Brussels sprouts, trim off the ends and cut them in half, lengthwise. Blanch them in a pot of boiling, salted water for 2 minutes. Then remove them from the water into a colander using a slotted spoon or spider, drain and cool.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Core the sprouts taking out a good amount of the insides but leaving a thick shell intact. Set aside the shells and roughly chop the insides.
Add the chopped sprouts to a pan along with the olive oil and garlic and saute on low to medium heat for a few minutes until the sprouts have softened. Be careful not to burn the garlic. When done remove the pan from the heat.
In a bowl, mix together the goat cheese, lemon juice, milk, chives and breadcrumbs. Add the sauteed sprouts and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Using a teaspoon, stuff some of the mixture into each cored Brussels sprout and place on a baking sheet that you’ve lined with parchment paper. Top with the Parmesan cheese and bake in a preheated 400 F oven for 20 minutes or until the filled sprouts are a light golden brown. Serve warm.
Notes:
I did get some extra sprouts in case the filling was plentiful, and it was indeed. We’ve found that a lot of stuff like this that is filled tend to have more filling than anticipated. The extra sprouts came in handy. I think I had a total of about 20 or 24. Something like that.