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CHOW: Recipes: Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Fried Capers

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Fried Capers Recipe

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Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Fried Capers
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: | Active Time: | Makes: 8 servings

The bright flavors of this quick sauté make converts of those people who say they don’t like Brussels sprouts. You can leave out the capers if you like, but they really do add a nice crunch and burst of flavor.

This recipe was featured as part of our Neoclassic Holiday Dinner menu.

INGREDIENTS

For the fried capers:

  • 1/4 cup brined capers, drained
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For the Brussels sprouts:

  • 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed, large ones cut in half lengthwise
  • 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6 tablespoons reserved olive oil from the fried capers
  • 1/2 cup dry vermouth or water
  • 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
INSTRUCTIONS
For the fried capers:

  1. Drain the capers in a colander or strainer and press down on them to squeeze out any excess moisture. Lay them on paper towels to dry a bit. Pour the oil into a small, heavy skillet over medium-high heat; it should be about 1/4 inch deep. When the oil is shimmering, almost smoking, add the capers and fry, stirring, until they open up like flowers and brown. Remove the capers from the oil and place them on several layers of paper towels to drain. Reserve the olive oil for cooking the Brussels sprouts.

For the Brussels sprouts:

  1. Fit a food processor with the slicing blade. With it running, drop the Brussels sprouts down the feed tube to thinly slice them. (Use the hopper to push the sprouts through—it creates better slices.) Alternatively, you can use a mandoline or a sharp knife to thinly slice the Brussels sprouts. Mash the garlic and salt into a paste in a mortar and pestle or with a chef’s knife on a cutting board.
  2. Heat 2 large (12-inch) frying pans over medium-high heat. (If you don’t have 2 pans, you’ll have to do this in 2 batches.) When the pans are hot, spoon half of the reserved olive oil and half of the garlic paste into each. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  3. Add the Brussels sprouts and toss them gently until they are coated with oil, and then let them sit undisturbed for about 1 minute, so that they crisp and brown slightly. Toss again and cook for about 1 minute more. Pour in the vermouth and stir-fry until the Brussels sprouts are crisp-tender but still bright green, about 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Consolidate the Brussels sprouts into one pan and place them over medium-low heat to keep warm. Add the fried capers to the pan, then add the vinegar, toss, taste, and correct the seasonings. Transfer to a big, pretty bowl and serve hot.
    Write a review | 15 Reviews
  • Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Fried Capers Recipe
    4

    Was delish! it makes a LOT! but was so so good!

  • Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Fried Capers Recipe
    4

    This is a great take on brussels sprouts. Love the shredding. And fried capers add a salty little bit of goodness.

POST A COMMENT |13 Comments

COMMENT

  • leberquesgue, you made a good point about the oil amount. It did not make any sense, so we updated the recipe to just divide the reserved oil when cooking the sprouts. Thank you!

    Amy Wisniewski
    Assoc. Food Editor, CHOW

  • Minor quibble: it would be difficult to reserve 6 tbsps of oil from the 1/3 cup used for the capers, since 1/3 cup is the smaller amount. Oh when will we avoid these absurdities and go metric?!

  • This sounds really good!
    Could I post this on my sprouts blog?

  • Can this be prepared a day in advance or does it need to be served immediately?

    Looks great.

  • sauteed shredded brussels sprouts are indeed very tasty especially if you sprinkled them with a bit of good truffle oil just before serving

  • *grins*... even in spite of all the glowing praise here, I'm relatively convinced that there's no recipe in the world that could shake my distaste for Brussels sprouts :-).

  • It was lovely!

    I imagine it would be lovelier if I sauteed a nice, tasty, fatty bacon to render the fat and then proceeded with the recipe. I also thought it could use a bit more garlic, but that's my [strong] palette.

    Very nice recipe.

  • I am delighted you converted your husband?
    Any unusual coaltion of vegetables is a delight saute red cabbage add sliced sprout and red capsicum red wine sprinle with five spice brown sugar and lightly grill before service.

  • I LOVE Brussels Sprouts and my hubby HATES them. I disliked this dish and he loved it! I had two bites and he enjoyed all of the rest - yes - all of it!!!

  • I made this for Christmas dinner and made a couple of converts to Brussels Sprouts. Shredding everything takes time, which s the only reason I haven't made it again since then.

    I would definitely try it with anchovies in the future.

    :::::c::
    http://www.ultraclay.com/

  • As with many Chow recipes lately: there is NO need to deep-fry the capers to get that yummy, salty caper crunch. Reserving some of the oil is a nice idea, but the caper flavor is so strong that it's not necessary. Using a hot skillet with a very small bit of oil (or even coating the pan with cooking spray) will do the job just fine. Keep shaking the pan to prevent burning and get an even, crispy...+READ

    As with many Chow recipes lately: there is NO need to deep-fry the capers to get that yummy, salty caper crunch. Reserving some of the oil is a nice idea, but the caper flavor is so strong that it's not necessary. Using a hot skillet with a very small bit of oil (or even coating the pan with cooking spray) will do the job just fine. Keep shaking the pan to prevent burning and get an even, crispy surface on the capers.-COLLAPSE

  • I agree, davina. Almost anything savory is better with anchovies!

  • I tried these last night, they were great! Next time, we will add anchovies because I think anchovies and capers are like salt and pepper.