Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Pecorino and Walnuts

Yes, I know.  It's been another long break between posts.  But I have excuses.  Legitimate excuses!  Let's see.....first, there's Fletcher.....

I think we've finally worked ourselves into a routine.  And he's much better at at all of his commands....the most important being "settle down".  Like right this minute!  He's curled up beside me in this chair asleep!  WINNING!  I can sit and write this blog post in peace.

Second.....we bought a house!  It's under construction but it's almost finished and YES, that means only three more months in the rental!  I promise to post some pictures of it (hopefully) this week.  It was far enough along that I got to pick out a few things, but didn't have to stress over all of the minute details of starting from scratch.  Plus it has 90% of everything we both wanted.

Third....this is the heartbreaking one....my hard drive on my computer crashed.  The second one in two years.  Which also means that it's the second time in two years that I've lost all of my pictures.  Why didn't I have them backed up onto an external hard drive, you ask?  The hell if I know.  An intelligent person would have been doing that after it happened the first time.....a really intelligent person would have done it before it ever happened.  Then there's ME.  Guess what I bought before I left the Apple store?  AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE.  And here are words that I never thought I'd utter....."Thank goodness for Facebook!"  Because I post a ton of vacation pictures on there at least I still have those.  So, thanks Zuckerberg.  What I didn't post on FB were tons of food pics I had taken of things to blog about.  Grrrr.  This little post here had actually been started a few weeks ago and saved so I got a tad lucky!

I made this salad a few weeks ago (before the tragedy) and we both loved it.  It's crunchy and light but very filling and satisfying.  I suppose you could substitute parmesan for the pecorino but I wouldn't if you can find some good pecorino.  It's a bit creamier and richer tasting than parm, but it's also saltier in my experience so make sure you taste before adding additional salt.  

Avoid grating the cheese and instead break it into small chunks with the tines of a fork.  Those creamy little chunks are so satisfying with the bitterness of the sprouts.  

Here's the recipe:

Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Pecorino and Walnuts

Buvette  /  The Pleasure of Good Food

Ingredients:

2 dozen Brussels sprouts

1/2 cup raw walnut halves

1/4 cup finely fork-crumbled pecorino Romano cheese

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

pinch of sea salt (to taste)

Directions:

Trim off and discard the bottom ends of the sprouts and discard any loose or discolored outer leaves.  Using a mandoline, the slicing attachment on a food processor, or a simply a sharp knife, carefully shave the sprouts.  Combine them in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients, scrunching the sprouts with your hands as you mix so that they wilt a little.  Season to taste with more salt, if necessary, and a bit more olive oil if you think it needs it; the exact amount will depend not only on your preference, but also the size of the Brussels sprouts