Pan-fried sprouts with squash, bacon, maple syrup and cinnamon

Even the most die-hard sprout hater will love this recipe! The sprouts are softly fried to preserve their freshness (as opposed to boiling all the flavour out!) and combined with delicious squash and sweet maple syrup and cinnamon.  The recipe calls for bacon but feel free to leave this out if you avoid meat – you can use walnut or sesame oil to fry the sprouts instead of the bacon fat.

 

Ingredients (serves 4)

 

6 slices of dry cured smoked streaky bacon, chopped

500g sprouts, bottoms chopped and halved (remove any outer leaves that look a little tired)

400g sweet squash (butternut, red kuri, acorn, etc.), deseeded and chopped in to small pieces 0.5cm thick

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

A handful of chopped walnuts

3 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

Sea salt and black pepper

Olive oil

 

 

Method

 

Heat a large, deep, lidded frying pan over a medium to low heat and add a small drizzle of olive oil.  Fry the bacon pieces over a low heat with the lid on until the bacon has gone golden and the fat has melted out in to the pan. Remove the bacon to a plate, leaving the fat in the pan.

Add the sprouts and fry on medium heat with the lid on for 5-8 mins until they are tender and cooked through with a slight golden tinge on the edges.  Remove from the pan and keep to one side.

Add a little more oil if necessary and then fry the pieces of squash in the pan, again with the lid on until tender and sweet.  When almost cooked add the garlic and walnuts and cook for a minute or two.

Once the squash is cooked return the sprouts and bacon to the pan, stir through and pour over the maple syrup and cinnamon. Season with a little salt and pepper (the bacon will make it already quite salty) and stir to combine.

Serve as a side dish with your Christmas roast or enjoy it as a dish in its own right, perhaps with a poached egg on top.