Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy frying pan or cast iron skillet, 28cm or larger
• •Slotted spoon
• •Sharp kitchen knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Render the bacon

   Place the bacon lardons in a large, cold frying pan and set it over medium heat. Starting in a cold pan is important: it lets the fat render slowly out of the meat, and that fat is what you'll cook the sprouts in. Stir the lardons occasionally and let them cook for six to eight minutes, until they're golden and crisp at the edges and the pan is slick with melted fat. Lift the bacon out with a slotted spoon and set it aside on a plate. Leave every drop of fat in the pan.

   Cut the lardons yourself from a thick slab of smoked bacon. Pre-sliced thin rashers won't give you the same meaty bite or the same amount of rendered fat. You need that fat.
2. 2

   Sear the sprouts

   Add the butter and oil to the bacon fat in the pan and raise the heat to medium-high. When the butter is foaming and beginning to smell nutty, lay the sprout halves cut-side down in a single layer. Do not move them. This is the step that matters most. The cut face needs to sit flat against the hot pan, undisturbed, for four to five minutes until it turns a deep, uneven gold with dark spots at the edges. That color is flavor: the natural sugars in the sprout caramelizing against the hot fat. If you stir or shake the pan, you lose it.

   If the sprouts don't all fit in one layer, cook them in two batches. Crowding the pan traps steam and the sprouts will turn grey and soft instead of golden and crisp. Two batches and patience will give you the dish. One crowded pan will not.
3. 3

   Cook through

   Once the cut sides are deeply caramelized, turn the sprouts over and season them with fine sea salt and a good amount of black pepper. Lower the heat to medium and cook for another four to five minutes, tossing once or twice, until the outer leaves are browning and the centers are just tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. You want them yielding but not soft. A little resistance at the core is right. Overcooked sprouts taste of sulfur. Properly cooked sprouts taste sweet, nutty, and clean.

4. 4

   Return the bacon

   Scatter the reserved bacon lardons back into the pan and toss everything together over the heat for thirty seconds, just long enough for the bacon to warm through and the flavors to meet. Take the pan off the heat.

5. 5

   Finish with lemon

   Squeeze half the lemon directly over the sprouts in the pan. The acid is not optional. It lifts the whole dish, cutting through the richness of the bacon fat and butter and brightening the sweetness of the caramelized sprouts. Without it, the dish is heavy. With it, it's alive. Taste. If it needs more lemon, use the other half. Transfer to a warm serving dish, finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt, and bring it to the table immediately.

Chef Tips

• •The season decides. Brussels sprouts picked after the first frost are sweeter and less bitter than anything harvested in warm weather. If you're buying them in October, wait. November and December sprouts are a different vegetable entirely.
• •Use thick-cut smoked bacon, not the thin, floppy kind. You need lardons with substance, pieces that render their fat generously and stay chewy at the center while crisping at the edges. Ask your butcher for a piece cut from the slab.
• •Save the small loose leaves that fall away when you trim the sprouts. Toss them into the pan in the last minute of cooking. They turn into crisp, papery chips that shatter between your teeth. They're a cook's reward.
• •This dish is good alongside roast pork or duck, but it's also a meal on its own with a fried egg on top and a slice of rugbrod. Don't underestimate a side dish that can carry a plate by itself.

Advance Preparation

• •The sprouts can be trimmed and halved up to a day ahead. Keep them in a sealed container in the fridge. Bring them to room temperature before cooking, or the cold centers will slow down the caramelization.
• •The bacon lardons can be rendered ahead of time and the fat reserved. Reheat the fat in the pan before adding the sprouts. But the final assembly, searing and finishing, must happen just before serving. This dish does not wait.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 185g)