Brussels sprouts and pastina vegetable soup

One of the easiest way to cook these notorius vegetables is in a soup, a bit like a minestrone, so that all the flavors from the other vegetables, plus the starch of pasta, 'improve' the distinctive taste of Brussels sprouts.

Chop one onion, half a carrot and one celery stalk with leaves, sauté with a tbsp of olive oil and then add 1.5 l of vegetable stock. Simmer until the carrots are soft and then add the Brussel sprouts, a cube of frozen spinach and a handful of pastina (small pasta like stelline). Simmer until the pasta and Brussels sprouts are cooked, add a little more extra virgin olive oil and black pepper to taste. Easy and yum!

 Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Brussels, Cauliflower and Broccoli Mix

About myself I could say that I love broccoli, I like cauliflower, and I eat brussels sprouts. Do you like them? I think that I buy them about once a year, I did plant them once but I wasn't very successful: they opened up like little cabbages (maybe it is not cold enough in Auckland) and they attracted lots of bugs. And nobody in the family is exactly 'crazy' about them. My husband saw my shopping bag and said 'Brussels???'. He wasn't looking forward to dinner. The kids didn't even remember the taste, since we eat them so rarely, but they hear horrible tales about them from other kids: nobody is supposed to like them.

But I love variety, and if I cook the brussels slowly in veggie stock, and maybe with other vegetables, I think that they can be interesting. I put them in vegetables soups, like minestrone, and they don't seem bitter then. This time, instead, I wanted to cook them with other brassica, so a made a big brussels/cauli/broccoli mix. 

Brussels, Cauliflower and Broccoli mix

I sauteed a garlic clove with a little olive oil, then I added my brassica: brussels and cauliflower florets first, and the after 5 minutes, the broccoli. Stir well during this time, you don't want to burn your brassicas!! Then I added 250 ml of vegetable stock, lowered the heat, covered with a lid, and cooked the lot until the liquid was absorbed.  They can be used as a side dish, but also with pasta, or to fill a pie. They were eaten no problem, with comments like: "Cooked like this they are not bad..." which probably meant "Ok I'll eat them, but can we have pizza tomorrow?"

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©