Shaved Brussels sprout Caesar

This recipe is part of Ugly Vegetable Winter – weird winter vegetables that are delicious, locally grown, and often ignored.

This salad is inspired by one I used to eat almost every week for lunch at a now-closed restaurant called Gilt. It’s made with shaved Brussels sprouts which retain a crispy texture even with a heavy amount of dressing. The popped capers add a beautiful bright flavour to the salad. A heavy amount of Parmesan ties every

 

Ingredients

A side dish for 4 or a meal for 2. Scales up with lots of chopping.

Salad

  • 500g Brussels sprouts

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

  • 2 tbsp capers

  • 1 Lemon

  • 1/2 cup Caesar salad dressing

  • 100g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

  • Freshly ground black pepper

INGREDIENT NOTES:

Capers are the flower bud of a caper bush, not to be confused with caper berries which are the developed fruit. Capers have a bright, lemony flavour. Fried, they are crispy moments of joy. Find them in the pickle aisle.

If you want added crunch, I suggest adding the garlic bread croutons from my pumpkin soup recipe.

This dish is inspired by a now-closed local restaurant called Gilt, where I got this salad almost every week.

Method

Shave the Brussels sprouts

With a knife, cut the bottom stem off each Brussels sprout. Cut each Brussels sprout in half. Finely slice each half of a Brussels sprout. You’ll have fine shavings, similar in texture to grated cheese. Transfer to your serving bowl and toss a few times to break up any clumps.

MAKE POPPED CAPERS

Remove capers from the jar and dry on a clean kitchen town. Drying will help avoid sputtering in the oil. Add 1/4 cup olive oil to a saucepan and put on medium–high heat. When the oil is very fluid and shimmering, but not smoking, add your capers. They should immediately begin to fry and pop like popcorn. Cook for 30–60 seconds until crispy and brown.

Remove from the heat, use a fork or slotted spoon to remove from the oil, and dry on a clean kitchen towel.

ASSEMBLE & SERVE

Put the Brussels sprouts into a large bowl. Add around 3/4 of the Caesar salad dressing. Toss the ingredients together until the Brussels are well coated. Taste and determine if you need more dressing – you can always add more, but its hard to take away. This is a personal choice, make it how you like it.

Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fried capers. Generously top with fresh ground black pepper. Squeeze lemon on top just before serving.

CASEAR SALAD DRESSING

To make your own dressing: add 4 anchovies, 1–2 cloves of garlic, 2 pasteurized egg yolks, the juice of a lemon, 1 cup of olive oil, 50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to a blender. Blend until smooth and emulsified. You can also do this by hand by mashing the anchovies with a fork, grating the garlic, and slowly adding the oil while whisking, then add the Parmesan.

Caesar salad dressing is basically mayonnaise with garlic, Parmesan, and anchovies. You can also make it that way (skip the anchovies if you don’t like them).

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Radish & blood orange salad

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Marko’s perfect cabbage (roasted cabbage with gremolata)