Image by sweetbeetandgreenbean

“Why are you even thinking of buying a bag of pungent, watery balls that give you wind?”

- Nigel Slater on brussel sprouts, in his book Appetite.

I have to disagree with Nige on this one – for some reason I haven’t been scarred by overcooked Xmas or school dinner sprouts over the years, and as these festive ‘watery balls’ only come out to play around this time of year, I found a good new use for them, combining udon (noodles made from rice (much nice than soba, for me), my ever-so-simple tahina/tahini recipe and, of course, the ‘sproutage’.

Ingredients

Udon noodles (about 100g per person)
Tahini
Brussel sprouts
(Optional extras: mushrooms. You can also make this dish with broccoli, instead of sprouts, if they still give you nightmares.)

1. Wash and score the sprouts, with an ‘x’ (this speeds up cooking), then boil until softened (but not light green and watery!)
2. Fry the sprouts in olive oil (with mushrooms, as an added extra, if you like)
3. Boil the udon, drain and rinse with cold water.
4. Mix the tahini and udon, then add the vegetables.

Tip: The tahini tends to solidify when you add to the noodles, so consider making it extra-runny!

I’m sure there must be a range of other winning veg. combos for this dish – let me know if you discover any…

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