Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin

 

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible! 

I am so excited to be cooking my first turkey this Thanksgiving, but honestly my favorite things on the menu for Thursday don’t even include meat. I love loading up on all the sides! And I am so excited to debut this brussels sprouts au gratin recipe as my new favorite side dish. 

When I presented this dish to my husband the first time I made it, he said, "I don’t know why anyone even bothers with green bean casserole when you can have this." And I have to agree! Frankly, I’m not sure why we don’t make everything au gratin. What’s not to love about toasted cheese and breadcrumbs? In fact, I slowly increased the au gratin topping throughout my numerous recipe test attempts because I think the texture it adds is so vital to getting this recipe just right.

As always, it's very important to the best quality ingredients in your recipes, especially when it's for an important meal like Thanksgiving! That's why I only use Challenge butter. Challenge churns their butter from the freshest 100% real pasteurized sweet cream and salt. They don't use any artificial or synthetic ingredients. And that's really important to me.

Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin

Yield: About 10 servings

Ingredients

For the filling

• 4 ounces pancetta
• 4 Tablespoons Challenge unsalted butter
• 2 leeks, sliced thin and cut in half moons
• 2 shallots, small dice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed, shredded on largest mandolin setting or cut 1/8" thick
• 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 4 ounces gruyere cheese, grated
• 4 ounces parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

For the topping

• 1 1/2 cups panko bread cumbs
• 6 ounces parmesan cheese, grated
• 6 Tablespoons melted Challenge unsalted butter

Directions

For the filling

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Sauté pancetta until lightly browned and fat is rendered, remove from skillet
3. Leave pancetta fat in skillet and add butter
4. Add leeks and shallots to pan. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté on low until leeks and shallots start to caramelize.
5. Add garlic and cook on low until garlic is fragrant and softens.
6. Add brussels sprouts and thyme to skillet and return pancetta to skillet. Mix thoroughly. Scrape mixture into 11x7” baking dish.
7. Using same skillet, add cream, Gruyere, parmesan, dijon mustard, thyme. salt, nutmeg, black pepper, and cayenne. Bring to a simmer stirring continuously until cheese melts and it turns into a thick sauce, about 3 minutes.
8. Pour the sauce over sprouts and leeks mixture and toss to coat.
9. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Mixture should be bubbling and starting to brown around the edges.
10. Remove from oven.

For the topping

1. Combine panko, parmesan, and melted butter. Scatter mixture over brussels sprouts and return to oven.
2. Bake until golden brown, about 5 to 8 minutes.