850g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
25g Lurpak® Slightly Salted butter
1 tbsp plain flour
500ml whole milk
125g Gruyère cheese, grated
6 rashers sliced pancetta
3 sliced shallots
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 sprigs of lemon thyme, leaves only, plus extra to garnish
Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon, plus extra to garnish
Pinch of nutmeg, freshly grated
25g breadcrumbs
Pinch of sea salt
Good grind of pepper
Start by preheating the oven to 180 ˚C, or 160˚C if you’re using a fan oven.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the sprouts and return to the boil. Then simmer for seven minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, drain in a colander and refresh under cold water. Put the sprouts to one side.
Next, place a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and gently dry fry the pancetta for a couple of minutes on each side until golden and crisp. Then remove pancetta from the pan, roughly chop four rashers, and set aside.
In the same pan and on a medium heat , add the shallots and Lurpak® Slightly Salted butter, and fry for three to four minutes until the shallots are soft, but not coloured. Be careful not to burn the butter in the process, Lower the heat and add the flour to the pan stirring continuously with a wooden spoon for one or two minutes until you have a roux. Then slowly add the milk, stirring continuously until the sauce thickens. When the sauce thinly coats the back of the wooden spoon, take it off the heat and add 100g of the grated Gruyère to the pan along with the chopped pancetta, thyme leaves, lemon zest and nutmeg. Season to taste.
Transfer the sprouts into an ovenproof dish, pour over the white sauce, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and the remaining Gruyère, then chop the remaining two rashers of pancetta and crumble over the top.
Place in the preheated oven and cook for 25 minutes until golden and bubbling, then serve immediately garnished with extra lemon zest and a few fresh thyme leaves.
