Miso Butterbean Pâté, Garlic Brussels Sprouts and Caramelized Onion on Sourdough
This beautiful recipe makes perfect, filling brunch. It’s bursting with flavour and colour and despite being a bit of a showstopper, is not tricky to throw together. Best of all, it features one of my fav veggies of all time - the humble brussels sprout. I know not everyone is on the same page as me when it comes to this controversial brassica, but since you clicked on this recipe, I’m thinking you’re a sprout-lover like me.
Studies have demonstrated that the reason a lot of people hate brussels sprouts is actually down to genetic differences in taste receptors on the tongue, affecting perception of bitterness. Due purely their genetic make-up, around 25% of people taste the bitterness so strongly, it can make brussels sprouts and other cruciferous veg truly repuslive. My grandma used to wince at the very mention of brussels sprouts! Every Christmas it was the same joke “Here’s your dinner Grandma,” I would say setting the entire bowl of sprouts onto the table in front of her. “OH GOD NO!” she would reply. Every year. ❤️
For those of us blessed with brussels sprouts loving genes, there are so may ways to enjoy them! Often I’ll blanch them and then roast with a nutty vegan parmesan and olive oil. To be honest I’m even happy to have a bowl of them boiled, totally plain - old school.
To prepare your sprouts, you will need to slice off the tough base. When you do this, the outer leaves will fall off as well. If these leaves are very unappetising and on the turn, you may need to feed them to the compost bin. Usually though, they’re good to eat. I like to toss these leaves in a little olive oil and sea salt and roast them until they’re crispy. brussels sprouts crisps to snack on!
Once you’ve trimmed your sprouts and removed the outer leaves, simply slice them in half vertically. Next, marvel at the beauty of this cross-section. Like a little tree! For this recipe there’s no need to blanch or parboil. We just let the frying pan do all the work.
For the delicious pâté, I like to use white miso. My favourite is this unpasteurised white miso from Clearspring. Miso is a fermented product and a “living food” containing an abundance of live enzymes. Since we won’t be cooking the miso in this recipe, we won’t be destroying any of these living enzymes and so they will make it to the gut intact, ready to work their magic!
Of course, you don’t have to use sourdough bread. Any bread is fine. Flatbreads or wraps would work really well too.
Ingredients
(For two large slices of bread - should serve 2)
For the miso butterbean pâté
1 can cooked butterbeans, drained
3 teaspoons white miso (or sub dark miso)
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Generous squeeze of lemon
A pinch of dried thyme (optional)
A few rounds of black pepper
For the caramelized onion
1 small red onion or half a large onion, thinly sliced
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon coconut sugar (or sub brown sugar)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (or other vinegar such as apple cider)
For the garlic brussels sprouts
2 teaspoons olive oil (or cooking oil of choice)
1-2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
About 15-20 brussels Sprouts (depending on their size) trimmed and sliced horizontally
Squeeze of lemon
Pinch of sea salt
For the toast and garnish
2 large pieces of sourdough (or bread of choice)
Handful of toasted hazelnuts, crushed (175°C oven for around 8 mins - remove the skins when cool enough to do so)
Method
Start by making your pâté by simply combining all of the ingredients and mashing with a fork until you have a lovely smooth mixture. If you are using a dark miso, add two teaspoons and taste before adding a third, in case it’s extra salty.
To make the caramelised onions, gently heat your oil and then add the onions and pinch of salt. Sweat them until they are soft and translucent. This may take 5 minutes or more depending on how thinly you sliced them.
Add sugar and vinegar and fry for a few more minutes until your onions are soft, sticky and slightly golden. Set aside.
To make your garlicky brussels sprouts, use the same pan without washing it. If it’s very hot still, give it a minute to cool. If your oil is too hot it will burn the garlic.
Add 2 teaspoons of oil and the garlic to the pan and heat over a medium heat until the garlic smells amazing and has softened. This should only take a few minutes. Then turn off the heat and remove the garlic from the pan leaving behind as much of the oil as possible. I like to use a fork to do this.
Turn on the heat again and and ddd your brussels sprouts with the flat side down. Keep the pan at a medium heat. If it’s too hot you’ll just burn the outside of the sprouts and the inside will be bitter and uncooked.
Leave the sprouts undisturbed until the underside has turned golden brown and the sides are starting to turn a vibrant bright green (start checking the bottom after about a few minutes). Then turn them over on their backs for a few more minutes until they are also brown and caramelized. (Add a drizzle more oil only if necessary.)
At this stage I also like to give each sprout a press with a fork to open them out a little. When they’ve got a good colour on the back, give them a flip over one more time and another press with the fork. Then add a good squeeze of lemon, the pre-cooked garlic, a good pinch of sea salt. and mix. Remove from the heat.
Pop your bread in the toaster and if necessary, warm your onions through in the pan.
To assemble your toast, start with the pâté, then add your sprouts and onion. Finally, sprinkle with hazelnuts and season with some salt flakes and pepper.