I’m a big fan of the slow-sauté method for cooking dense vegetables. I first learned it from chef Leslie Revsin, who was famous for becoming the first female chef in the Waldorf-Astoria kitchen. She wrote a number of wonderful technique pieces for us at Fine Cooking magazine, but the one on slow-sautéing was my favorite. I used the technique to develop a Brussels sprouts, bacon and mushroom recipe for my first cookbook (Fast, Fresh & Green), and I’ve adapted that here for you. This vegetarian and alpha-gal friendly version does not have the bacon – but it does have the addition of halved garlic cloves that get soft and mellow with the long sauté. (A few years ago, I did post another slow-sautéed Brussels sprouts recipe here on Cook the Vineyard that does have bacon in it — and an orange butter sauce — that you can try if you like.)
With this technique, you will start out with a very crowded pan. That is intentional. As the vegetables slowly cook together, the steam they release helps cook them through and then they begin to brown towards the end of cooking. The juices they release also lend a deeply earthy flavor, and a bit of butter (or plant butter) and lemon in the end rounds that out. (If you are not a rosemary fan, feel free to use thyme here.)
I like to use relatively small Brussels sprouts for this, and I cut them in half. But if I have medium or larger sprouts in the mix, I quarter those so that pieces are similar in size and will cook through at the same time.
Once you cut the vegetables and pile them all into the pan (I like a straight-sided stainless steel 10-inch sauté pan for this), all you have to do is stir from time to time (a little more frequently at the end), but you don’t have to stand in front of the stove the whole time!
Vegetarians could eat this for supper with rice or another grain. And it makes a nice side dish for roasted or braised chicken.
Makes 4 side-dish servings, or 2 vegetarian main-dish servings
- 1 pound Brussels sprouts (preferable small to medium)
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise
- 2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or plant butter, cut into pieces and chilled
- ¼ lemon
- Trim the stem ends of the Brussels sprouts. If they are small, cut them in half lengthwise. If they are medium, but them into quarters lengthwise. If they are quite large, cut them in half and then cut each half into thirds lengthwise.
2. Cut the mushooms in a similar fashion, depending on their size.
3. In a 10-inch straight-sided stainless steel sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the Brussels sprouts, the mushrooms, the garlic cloves, the rosemary sprigs and the salt. Stir well to coat with oil.
4. Turn the heat down to medium-low. (You should hear a gentle sizzle.) Cook, stirring occasionally at first and more frequently when the vegetables start to brown, until the vegetables are well-browned and the Brussels sprouts are tender, about 26 to 30 minutes. The bottom of the pan will be quite brown.
5. Remove the pan from the heat, discard the rosemary sprigs, and add the butter pieces. Stir gently until the butter has melted. Give a generous squeeze of lemon over all and stir again. Taste and season with more lemon or salt if desired. Serve warm.