Chorizo-Feta-Rosenkohl-Auflauf (chorizo, feta and Brussels sprout bake)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 210°C. Toss the halved sprouts with the olive oil and a good pinch of salt, then arrange cut-side down in a single layer on a baking sheet, not crowded.
2. Roast 20 minutes without turning them, until the cut faces are deeply charred in spots. Resist checking too often; the char builds while they sit undisturbed.
3. Scatter the chorizo slices over the sprouts. Roast a further 10 minutes, until the chorizo has released its paprika-red oil, which bastes the sprouts as it renders.
4. Scatter the crumbled feta over the top. Roast a final 5 minutes, just until the feta softens and takes on a little colour at the edges.
5. Grate a little lemon zest over and add a squeeze of juice, if using, to cut through the richness. Serve straight from the tray.

Notes

• Roast the sprouts cut-side down and leave them undisturbed for the full 20 minutes. This is what gives them a genuine char rather than the flat, slightly boiled flavour sprouts get when tossed and turned too often in the oven.
• The chorizo needs no oil of its own. It renders a good amount of paprika-red fat as it roasts, which is what flavours the sprouts underneath; do not add extra oil when it goes in.
• Add the feta near the end, not at the start. A long roast dries it out and toughens it; the last few minutes is enough to soften it without turning it rubbery.
• This does not keep or reheat especially well, since both the char on the sprouts and the texture of the feta suffer; it is best eaten straight from the oven.

Ingredient substitutions

• Cooking chorizo should be the fresh, raw kind meant for cooking, not the cured, ready-to-eat kind, which behaves very differently in the oven.
• Feta can be a firm goat’s cheese for a milder, creamier finish.
• A handful of toasted walnuts scattered on at the end adds a good crunch alongside the char and cheese.