Roast sprouts with onions, fennel seeds, garlic, smoked paprika, dill

Roast sprouts with onions, fennel seeds, garlic, smoked paprika, dill and eggs

Winter

Here’s a fun brunch dish to pull out of the bag during the lead-up to Christmas – it’ll have everybody rushing to the table. There’s something about it, beyond the gorgeous smells as it cooks, that seems to draw you in. The sprouts get roasted with garlic, smoked paprika and caramelised onions and I like to add fennel seeds and loads of dill. Eat with fried bread and a good pot of coffee.

Serves 2-3 as a side

Ingredients

500g (1lb 2oz) Brussels sprouts, trimmed, then halved if large
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 rosemary sprigs, leaves stripped
2 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped
1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 knob of unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1 handful of dill, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/415°F/gas mark 6–7.

Place the sprouts in a large roasting tin. Scatter over the onions and garlic, along with the rosemary, thyme, and fennel seeds. Sprinkle over the paprika and trickle over the olive oil. Season everything generously with salt and pepper, tumble together well, and roast for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking, until the onions are soft and the sprouts are golden and even lightly charred in places.

Remove from the oven and stir in the butter. Using a spatula, clear three rough wells in the sprout-and-onion mixture and crack an egg into each well. Return to the oven for a further 6–8 minutes, or until the egg whites are cooked and the yolks are just set. Remove from the oven, scatter over the dill and give everything a final flurry of salt and pepper before serving immediately.

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