Chef Joost
Aardappelgratin
A French name, a Dutch potato, and a Sunday table: aardappelgratin is what happens when a frugal kitchen borrows richness and behaves as if it had always belonged.
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Geroosterde Spruitjes met Spek
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Spruitjes deserve better than the grey punishment many Dutch children remember: roasted hard and hot with spek, nutmeg, and balsamic, they become a Christmas side that tastes of winter finally forgiven.
Side Dishes
Dutch
Christmas
Sheet Pan
Dinner Party
15 min
Active Time
25 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
In my grandmother's second notebook, spruitjes appear beside the Christmas meat with no romance at all: trim, boil, butter, nutmeg. The handwriting is firm. The method is merciless. A whole generation of Dutch children learned that a sprout was a small green punishment, cooked until the kitchen smelled like a wool coat left too near the stove.
But let me tell you a secret. The vegetable was never the villain. Spruitje is only a little sprout, a tight bud growing along a tall cabbage stem, and it asks for the thing Dutch kitchens sometimes denied it in winter: dry heat and a little fat. Spek, cured pork belly cut into small blocks, understands cabbage the way old farm kitchens understood hunger. It brings salt, smoke, and enough fat to make the cut face brown instead of sulk.
The drop of balsamic is not ancient Dutch practice, and I won't pretend otherwise. It is simply the modern bottle that does what apple syrup and vinegar used to do separately: sweeten the edge, sharpen the fat, and wake the browned leaves. Add it late, after the oven has done its honest work, or it burns before the sprout has found its nuttiness. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple: hot pan, dry sprouts, spek scattered among them, vinegar at the end. Suddenly the spruitjeslucht, sprout smell, has left the house.
Brussels sprouts are a Low Countries brassica selected in market gardens around Brussels and documented in European cultivation by the sixteenth century; the Dutch everyday name spruitjes means little sprouts. For much of the twentieth century they were boiled hard, and the phrase spruitjeslucht, sprout smell, became Dutch shorthand for cramped, grey domesticity. Roasting them with spek belongs to the modern home kitchen, but its logic is old northern thrift: pork fat, salt, and winter cabbage making one another more generous.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Brussels sprouts (spruitjes)
Quantity
750g
trimmed and halved through the stem
smoked spekblokjes or thick-cut bacon
Quantity
150g
cut into 1cm lardons
neutral oil or olive oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
freshly grated nutmeg
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
balsamic vinegar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
appelstroop or honey (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Brussels sprouts (spruitjes)trimmed and halved through the stem | 750g |
| smoked spekblokjes or thick-cut baconcut into 1cm lardons | 150g |
| neutral oil or olive oil | 2 tablespoons |
| fine sea saltplus more to taste | 1/2 teaspoon |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| freshly grated nutmeg | 1/4 teaspoon |
| balsamic vinegar | 1 tablespoon |
| appelstroop or honey (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Large rimmed baking sheet
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Small bowl for the balsamic glaze
Instructions
- 1
Heat and trim
Heat the oven to 220C. Trim the dry ends from the spruitjes, pull away any tired outer leaves, and halve each sprout through the stem so the leaves stay together. Dry them well with a clean towel. Water is how sprouts return to their grey childhood.
- 2
Season the sprouts
Put the halved sprouts in a large bowl with the oil, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg. Toss until every cut face has a thin shine of oil. Go gently with the salt; the spek will speak up once its fat begins to run.
- 3
Fill the pan
Spread the sprouts on a large rimmed baking sheet, cut side down, in one layer. Scatter the spekblokjes between them rather than piling them on top, so the pork fat can find the pan and the sprouts can brown against it.
If the pan looks crowded, use two pans. A little bare metal between the sprouts is not wasted space; it is where browning happens. - 4
Roast hard
Roast for 18 to 22 minutes without stirring for the first 15 minutes. You want deep brown cut faces, crisp edges, and spek that has tightened into salty little pieces. If the sprouts are browned but the spek is still soft, give the pan another 3 to 5 minutes.
- 5
Add the vinegar
Stir the balsamic vinegar with the appelstroop or honey, if using. Drizzle it over the hot sprouts, toss quickly on the pan, and return everything to the oven for 2 to 3 minutes. The vinegar should gloss the edges, not blacken them.
A thick, sweet balsamic needs no appelstroop. A sharp, thin one benefits from that small Dutch spoonful of apple syrup. - 6
Serve at once
Taste and correct with a pinch of salt or pepper if needed, then scrape the sprouts, spek, and browned bits onto a warm serving plate. Do not cover them. The crisp edges are the apology this vegetable has been owed for decades.
Chef Tips
- •The tide sets the menu, and so does the calendar. Buy tight winter sprouts, preferably after the first cold weeks; in high summer, make another vegetable the side dish and let spruitjes wait for their season.
- •Use proper spekblokjes or a piece of smoked pork belly you cut yourself. Very lean bacon gives salt without generosity; the rendered fat is part of the seasoning.
- •Nutmeg belongs here. Dutch cooks have grated it over cabbage, cauliflower, beans, and potatoes for centuries, a small everyday echo of the spice trade sitting quietly beside the stove.
- •The balsamic is a modern guest at this Dutch table. Use it with manners: a small spoon at the end. If you want a more local taste, use apple cider vinegar with a little appelstroop.
Advance Preparation
- •Trim and halve the sprouts up to 24 hours ahead. Keep them dry in a covered container in the refrigerator, with a towel underneath to catch moisture.
- •Cut the spek or bacon up to 2 days ahead and keep it refrigerated.
- •Roast just before serving. Leftovers keep 3 days refrigerated and are best reheated uncovered in a hot oven or dry skillet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 150g)
Calories
240 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
20 mg
Sodium
780 mg
Total Carbohydrates
16 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
9 g
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