Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Pine Nuts
Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Pine Nuts is one of our favorite quick side dishes during the week. I love a good roasted sprout but I’m also in love with eating vegetables in new and different ways. It not only livens things up, but it helps us eat more vegetables because they are different or new. We rarely get bored with a vegetable around this house.
Brussel Sprouts get a bad rap and I don’t really know why. I think in years past people boiled them, making them not only bitter, but mushy too. Farmers have had a hand in changing the bitterness of Brussel sprouts too. They cross bread the more bitter sprouts of years past with a less bitter vegetable, so in fact Brussel sprouts do taste better than they did when we were all kids. But people roast vegetables now too. Growing up we mainly boiled them. Maybe that wasn’t true for every household, but it made everything mushy and not interesting to eat.
Shaved Brussel Sprouts is nothing new, it’s been popping up on restaurant menus for a while now. You can also buy the already shaved sprouts at most grocery stores. Now I do opt for this quick route from time to time, but I hesitate too often because sprouts tend to get less fresh quickly once they are trimmed or sliced. Instead I prefer to get untrimmed sprouts and trim the ends, pull off the outer leaves and then slice them on my handheld mandolin myself.
When it comes to mandolins, you don’t need anything fancy unless you plan on using it a ton. I use mine more than the average bear and I find it perfectly suitable for my needs. I prefer the handheld because it can easily fit into a drawer and I have a small kitchen. I use this OXO one and love it. The link to mine is here: https://amzn.to/3i4K532
The best way to shave the brussel sprouts yourself for Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Pine Nuts is to cut the sprout with the top of the head going to the blade first. If you try it by putting the stem first it will not cut well. Be very careful using the mandolin. Because of the size of the sprouts it’s hard to use the guard and I’ve nicked my fingers before.
Toasted pine nuts and fresh shavings of aged parmesan bump the wow factor of Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Pine Nuts up a notch. Give it a try and pair it with chicken, beef or pork.
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Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Pine Nuts
Ingredients
- 1/4 c pine nuts
- 12 brussel sprouts or 12 oz bag shaved brussel sprouts
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- kosher salt
- parmesan cheese I use a vegetable peeler to cut mine off the wedge
Instructions
- Heat a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat.
- Once hot, add in the pine nuts and toast over the stove top stirring occasionally for about five minutes. Watch them carefully as they can burn quickly. Once you smell them, they are toasted and ready to be put onto a plate or small bowl and set aside.
- Return the pan back to the heat and add in 2 tbsp olive oil.
- Add in the shaved sprouts (**if shaving you're own sprouts see my note below)
- Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the sprouts get slightly tender.
- Add in kosher salt to taste, about 1/4 tsp. Stir well and pull off the heat. Add the sprouts to a bowl and toss in the pine nuts.
- Stir well, then top with fresh parmesan shaving. I run my Y peeler down my wedge of parmesan to get little curls.
- ** To shave your own sprouts, cut the tip off the stem section of the Brussel sprout. Then peel back any outer leaves that look old or dirty. Take your mandolin on the smallest slice setting and cut the Brussel sprout with the head of the sprout facing the blade first. If you cut with the stem side facing the blade first it won't cut very well. Be careful using your mandolin and of course you can always slice them thinly with a knife.
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