Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apples, Leek, and Bacon

This recipe is modified from one I found on The Bitten Word (thanks, guys, for sharing!).  Since it seems to be Brussels Sprout season in our local supermarkets, when I found the original recipe, I was hot to try it.  The original does not have leeks in it, but we had a huge one in the fridge, and since we love roasted leek and onion with bacon, it seemed like a good thing to add.  I also made double the amount from the original recipe, since it was our main dish, and we like having leftovers.

Equipment

• chef’s knife
• vegetable peeler
• cutting board
• colander
• roasting pan
• spoon

Ingredients

• 2 lbs fresh Brussels sprouts
• 4 slices of bacon
• 1 huge leek or two medium sized ones
• 2 apples (I used Pink Lady, the Bitten Word uses Honeycrisp)
• 0-4 Tbs olive oil (optional, depending on how fatty the bacon is)

Prep

1. Wash the Brussels sprouts, leeks, and apples.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Remove any icky outer leaves from the Brussels sprouts, and trim the stems.  Slice each one in half, lengthwise.
4. Chop the white and light green parts of the leek in up to quarter-inch rounds, crosswise.
5. Peel and core the apples, and cut into big (3/4 inch, about) chunks.
6. Stack the bacon slices, and cut them crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces.
7. Spread the vegetables and fruit in the bottom of a large roasting pan, in a single layer.
8. Distribute the bacon pieces evenly over the layer of veg and fruit.
9. Depending on the fattiness of your bacon, drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and fruit.   I left this out, since there was plenty of fat on the bacon.

Cook

1. Place in the oven for 20 minutes.
2. Stir up the contents, redistributing the vegetables, still keeping them in a single layer.
3. Bake for another 15-30 minutes, depending on desired level of caramelization, then remove from the oven.

Serve this immediately, as either a side dish, or by itself as a main course.  I really appreciated how the leek flavor blended with the other elements, to provide sweet, oniony, and earthy flavors.  I think this could make a lot of people like Brussels sprouts.