FUSILLI WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS, BACON, AND PINE NUTS

When it comes to Christmas I am vehemently anti-sprout and as that is the only time anybody ever tries to make me eat the overboiled stinky little things I am free to be anti-sprout for the rest of the year as well. But, my resolve has been weakening. I keep hearing people trying make me think there might be more to the sprout than meets the nose. They talk about cooking them in butter and keeping the crunch and suddenly this all sounds a lot more appealing.

Happily the start of the sprout season has coincided with my favourite recent internet find, Epicurious. It was love at first sight with the recipe box facility and one of the first recipes I saw and saved was for fettucine with brussels sprouts and pine nuts. Well, in the making fettucine became fusilli and I added two rashers of bacon that needed to be used but try it, it's a good one. If you're still a sprout sceptic it might just start to turn you, I can certainly feel my mind starting to embrace the sprout. Who knows maybe I'll be merrily eating a big bowl of boiled sprouts come Christmas...