I went to the amazing restaurant Table 128 here in the Des Moines area last year. They had a Brussel sprout salad and I was intrigued. I had never had them and I wanted to try them. They. Were. Amazing.

This is my take on that salad.

The salad hand Marcona almonds, prosciutto, champagne vinaigrette, in short amazing umami flavor. If you want to check table 128’s website you can click here.

My version of this salad has slivered almonds, pancetta, Parmesan cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of Brussels sprouts
• Parmesan Cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste (for the sprouts)
• 3 tablespoons of EVOO, plus more for pancetta
• A pinch of salt
• Black pepper (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of agave (honey of you want- lighter the color, lighter the flavor!)

How to make it

• Preheat the oven for 400 degrees.
• Grab a big sheet pan. Cut the sprouts (the wood stubber that they have). If they are huge (like the ones I had), quarter them and take off any loose leaves.
• Spray the sheet pan with some non cooking spray. Add the sprouts, season with salt and pepper, and add some Parmesan cheese. These will make the most AMAZING crispy parm flavor to the sprouts.
• Cook them for 20 -30 minutes. It depends on your oven and how big the sprouts are.
  

Take them out and put in a huge bowl.

optional step

• In the meantime, if you want the pancetta to be crispy (like I did), you can put them in a pan and let them crisp up (on medium heat). I added a little bit of oil because they didn’t have that much fat. This is completely optional. The original recipe just had slices of the prosciutto, which you can do with the pancetta.

Dressing:

• In a small bowl add the EVOO, Balsamic, some Parmesan cheese (I added a pinch), and honey. Which vigorously. Set aside.

Put it all together.

• In the bowl that you have the Brussels sprouts, add the parm, almonds, and pancetta.
• Add as much as you want, this is your salty component, so that’s why you don’t add salt to the dressing. If you do, add with caution. The first time I did this, I added 3/4-1 teaspoon of salt and it was SAAALTY.
• To not overdress, I added just a tiny bit of the dressing in this bowl and most of the dressing on the side, so that you can add as needed!

I served this with my rotisserie chicken thigh recipe and it complemented each other perfectly. Serve with a nice cold white wine!

If you like recipes like this, click that Follow button. To get email updates, subscribe to the blog! You can also follow on Facebook with the page “Boricua in the Midwest” and follow my Instagram @lokoxmusica where you can get a snapshot of my life filled with music & food!