Cheesy Pancetta Brussels Sprouts Bake is a comfort food through and through. It’s a great side dish but it’s also hearty enough to be a whole meal!
I miss my mom.
I don’t think I realized how much cooking connected us until she passed away about a year and a half ago.
There’s no question that I cook just like she did. From the style of food I make and the choice of ingredients, to the way I work in the kitchen and even the cooking utensils I love. It all threads back to her.
Like my mom did, I often cook with whatever just happens to be in the refrigerator. And the result of “throwing things together” is usually a one pot, comfort food meal, that’s richly flavored, hearty and relatively healthy. And that’s exactly how my Cheesy Pancetta Brussels Sprouts Bake came to be.
(And no, the “cheesy” isn’t necessarily the healthy aspect of the dish — but it’s okay!)
The only thing I do differently than my mom did in the kitchen, is write down exactly what I do. And then I remake it with the notes to be sure it’s accurate. And that’s because it’s my job. Otherwise, my measuring spoons might just stay in the drawer. 😉
My mom could never make the same thing twice. It could be similar, but never exactly the same. Unless she was baking, she never measured anything, and would often throw in random leftovers from other meals, or even that she’d brought home from a restaurant.
There was always so much love in my mom’s food! That was the one ingredient that she was able to repeat in every recipe.
I could smell the love (usually the sautéing onions), in my mom’s kitchen as soon as I’d approach the house. This was the case when I was a kid walking home from school, when I was in college coming home for a visit, when I brought my now husband to dinner for the first time, and when I’d bring my little boys over to play. There was always the scent of a scrumptious meal brewing.
I hope my boys smell the onions as they approach our house. The love, that is.
I hope you enjoy this Cheesy Pancetta Brussels Sprouts Bake as much as we do — it’s made with love and bundle of other super delicious ingredients!
Oh, and here are a couple more of my favorite brussels sprouts recipes that happen to be great for Thanksgiving, which is right around the corner:
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This is a comfort food through and through. It’s a great side dish but it’s also hearty enough to be a whole meal!
- olive oil for the pan
- 2 cups yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 cup pancetta, cut into a small dice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- 2 pounds brussels sprouts, washed and dried, root ends cut off, halved or quartered into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 cup vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 cups Gruyère cheese, grated, divided
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
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Preheat the oven to 375°F, and adjust a rack to the center.
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Lightly coat the bottom of a large, oven-proof skillet with olive oil and place it over medium-low heat. (A 12-inch cast iron skillet is perfect.)
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Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until soft and slightly golden, about 10 minutes.
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Add the garlic and pancetta and sauté until it’s beginning to crisp, about 5 minutes. Then add the paprika and thyme, stir to blend and cook until it’s very aromatic, about 30 seconds.
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Gradually stir in the brussels sprouts and turn the heat to medium-high, and add a bit more oil. Sauté, stirring often until they are tender and becoming golden along the edges, about 10 minutes.
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Deglaze the skillet with the vegetable stock, using a flat-edged spatula to scrape any bits of stuck food off of the bottom of the skillet, and back into the other ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Please note that the pancetta is salty, you you wont need too much!)
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Mix in the cream and 1 1/2 cups of the Gruyère. Sprinkle the Parmesan and remaining 1/2 cup of Gruyère on top.
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Place in the preheated 375°F oven and bake until it’s sizzling along the edges, about 10 minutes.(If the top isn’t as golden as you’d like, you can place the skillet under the broiler for about 30 seconds.)
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Serve!
Being one of those ‘odd’ people who cannot understand why anyone should object to Brussels sprouts, I am more than happy to collect recipes to mull over looking at the latest purchase! This is tasty . . . . well, I just may not ‘find’ quite the amount specified for one ingredient but . . . ? !! Now up to look at how you have treated the unctuous little balls before . . .
Thank you! 🙂 I hope you’ll try this one, one day. We love it! I can’t understand why anyone would object to Brussels sprouts either. ~Valentina
This looks delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Thank YOU!
I can not wait to make this dish! It looks so good!
Hope you love it!
WOW looks so delicious and perfect for dinner!
Oh it is! Thanks.
What a delicious way to do brussels sprouts! I think this would convince even the pickiest of eaters to give them a go!
Thanks! It did at my house. Although my boys aren’t too picky anymore, the didin’t love brussels sprouts until this. 🙂
This looks and sounds so delicious. What a great way to use brussels sprouts.
Thanks so much!
Brysselkål (brussels sprouts) are very popular over this way and we’re getting the first batch of frost sweetened sprouts in our market now. We’ll be having our annual “Thanksgiving in Sweden” dinner on the 24th and this one just made it to the side dish entree list for our event.
I hope you love it as much as my family does if you try it. And Happy (early) Thanksgiving! 🙂
What a sweet post, Valentina. We think very similarly about our mothers and our kitchens. Food made with love tastes so much better… is it because we know this? Feel this? Taste this? My mother has now been gone 30 years – literally half of my life, as I just turned 60. Yet, she is in my kitchen every day, reminding me not to “overdo” things; simpler is sometimes better.
Love the Brussels sprouts with pancetta and cheese… so full of flavor and, no doubt, love.
That’s sweet and love that you can relate. I can “hear” my mom’s comments in the kitchen too. 🙂 (Happy belated!)
I hear ya on the connection to Mom when it comes to cooking. I grew up around my Mom cooking all sorts of things in the kitchen, and I credit that to my love of the kitchen today. What a wonderful post! As far as the recipe, I love it! I don’t think I’ve ever added cheese to my Brussels, but I’m totally going to try that out now. Gruyere is an excellent choice here!
Thanks so much! Love it, and hoping we can all pass our cooking love on to our kids. 🙂 Hope you love the recipe.
Valentina this is such a fabulous recipe and sooo perfect for the holidays! I also cook just like my Mom – my fascination with ethnic food comes from her. I KNOW your boys can “smell the love” – mine definitely do! It’s so funny that they are already talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners!!!
Love hearing that about your boys! Bet they can’t wait to get home to your kitchen. And family, of course! 🙂
I love cruising the blogs this time of year but this is also how my Thanksgiving table goes from 3 or 4 “must-have” side dishes to 12 or 13! GREG
Ha! I do the same thing. I wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving. xo V
I miss my mom too. All the holiday food traditions come flooding back this time of year. Make sure and take time to enjoy your family as the super busy time of year arrives. This Brussels Sprouts recipe is scrumptious and could easily be a make ahead holiday side dish.
Thank you for your heartfelt words. Much appreciated. And yes, those holiday food traditions are filling me with memories these days. Fond ones! I wish you and your family a wonderful (and delicious!) Thanksgiving.
Valentina, I’m going to take this to our son’s home for Thanksgiving as I know the big group of friends he is having will enjoy this dish. Even if they are picky eaters, how could they not like Brussels sprouts with pancetta and cheese. I’m pinning.
I’m excited about this Karen! I hope they all love it! I’m with you — the pancetta and cheese make many things irresistible. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for visiting and checking our my recipes! 🙂
Awww, such a lovely post, Valentina. I can’t imagine how much you miss your mom! She’s with you everyday as you cook for your family, though, and I hope that brings you comfort.
This dish sounds wonderful as I’m a huge brussel sprout (and CHEESE) fan! YUM!
Thank you, Christina. Yes, she definitely is with me, always. 🙂 xoxo
Haha your cooking process and that of your Mum sounds very similar to what mine used to be… It was only when I started my site that I started writing things down and making notes. It has definitely improved me as a cook and helped me make things that people loved a second time 😉
These sprouts sound delicious, definitely up there with my favourite winter vegetables, I must make this.
Thanks so much, Brian. I still prefer my mom’s method of “winging it” but it sure is nice to repeat things. I agree. 🙂 Hope yo love these sprouts. 🙂