I don’t use the E word too freely in my culinary musings. What is considered easy in the kitchen for one person, could be very different for another. One doesn’t wish to assume. But truly, this recipe is like falling off a log.

Brussels sprouts (and there should be an S at the end of Brussels, I checked) evoke polar reactions. Burdened with poor historic PR as a soggy side dish, uninvitingly bitter, slimy even. A reputation perhaps born of a familial source; Christmas sprouts overcooked to complete surrender by generations of feisty matriarchs, nationwide. Or maybe hauled from bleak, grey memories of stark school dinners where sprouts lurked like cold, beige-green grenades, fervent in their mocking as obstacles between you and your conditional access to the crisp, bright winter playground.

Enough sprout poetry.

The Brussels Sprout has fought back in recent years from it’s unpopularity and when many people realise that you don’t have to boil them into a textural submission, their surprise turns to delight. The traditional nouveau companion has become bacon or pancetta. Salty and fatty, lardons have elevated many a sprout in the eyes and mouths of those under 40.

This recipe contains 4 ingredients. Two of them, the onion granules and the garlic granules, could possibly still be considered taboo in cooking circles, in so much that they are “cheats”. You know what? I don’t care. They are merely dried versions of real vegetables and by adding them this way, you reduce the risk of burnt garlic when it comes to cooking them straight from the freezer, because they become part of the even coating of each seasoned sprout.

Chestnuts bring sweetness and a fairly unique texture. When someone else has done the hard work of cooking and shelling them of course. I add them whole, for ease, and also for that Russian roulette game of fork chance, when everything on your plate is enrobed in a festive gravy disguise.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)

Brussels Sprouts, approx 5-6 per person, around 20-25 sprouts

1 heaped tsp onion granules

1 heaped tsp garlic granules

4-5 tbsp olive oil

1 pouch cooked chestnuts. I use Merchant Gourmet, 180g per pouch

METHOD

Prepare the sprouts by pulling off the tough and scruffy outer leaves and cutting the stalk flat to the base.

Place in a baking tray, I use foil trays that can be disposed of in my recycling or washed and reused again. Add the chestnuts, straight from the pouch.

Pour on the olive oil and stir the sprouts and chestnuts to coat them evenly. Sprinkle on the onion granules and garlic granules. Stir again, to coat everything well. Cover the tray in tin foil and place straight into the freezer.

On Christmas Day, remove the tin foil, place the tray in a mid to lower oven shelf at 180C or gas mark 6, for 30-40 minutes. Stir or shake half way through the cooking time and use a sharp knife to check the sprouts are roasted through before serving.

You’ll enjoy crispy bits, chewy bits and soft bits, hopefully all in the same mouthful.