Roasted Sprouts and Curried Aioli

Roasted sprouts and curried aioli (Jonathan, Plot 26)

Serves 4 as a side.

30 mins to cook

INGREDIENTS

500g sprouts - cleaned, trimmed and cut in half lengthways

1 shallot, peeled and sliced thinly

2 tsp caster sugar

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Handful of walnuts

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Sprig of fresh dill - chopped

For the aioli

2 egg yolks

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 garlic clove, grated/crushed

1 tsp white wine vinegar or a squeeze of lemon

50-100ml sunflower oil

1tsp curry powder

METHOD

For the sprouts

First, make a quick pickle of the shallots. Mix the white wine vinegar with the caster sugar, a pinch of salt and a splash of water. Add the sliced shallots and leave to stand. You can make this pickle more interesting with the addition of a couple of coriander seeds, pepper corns or chilli flakes.

Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 220°C. Toss the sprouts in a little bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a baking tray and pop in the oven for about 20 minutes - depending on the size of your sprouts. As a guide, you want a bit of colour on the sprouts and to still have a bit of bite once they’re done.

Toast the walnuts gently - either in the oven for about 10 minutes or in a skillet. Leave to cool.

For the aioli

This can be made in advance and kept for other recipes, or just used as a dip. Make sure you use clean and dry equipment.

Add the egg yolks, garlic and mustard to a bowl or a small blender and combine. Start blending/whisking and slowly add the oil in a steady stream. This will emulsify and as you add more oil the mixture will thicken. Keep on adding oil until you have the consistency you would like (this is usually 50-100 ml).

Finally, squeeze in a bit of fresh lemon juice and stir the curry powder through the aioli until evenly mixed. Season to taste with salt.

Plating up

Spread some of the aioli on the base of a serving dish and add the sprouts straight from the oven. Drizzle a little more aioli over the sprouts and top with crimbled toasted walnuts, the pickled shallots and chopped dill.

Some other variations

• Swap out the walnuts for pine nuts and use a homemade basil pesto in place of the aioli. Swap the dill for basil.

• Spice it up some more using harissa in the aioli in place of the curry powder and top with toasted almonds, dill and flat leaf parsley.

• Try using kalettes or purple sprouting broccoli in place of the sprouts - adjusting roasting times accordingly.