Christmas recipe: Brussels sprouts and smashed pigs in blankets
Tom Booton's festive side dish is cooked on the BBQ

Tom Booton, head chef at The Grill by Tom Booton at The Dorchester hotel in London, has put together a mouth-watering Christmas combination of sprouts, bacon and sausage – which are cooked on a Big Green Egg barbecue. The joy of this side dish is that you remove all of the sprout prep of Christmases gone by. No peeling and no cross-cutting the bottom.
Serves: 4-6 people
- EGG set up: direct
- Recommended charcoal: maple
- EGG target temperature: 220°C
- Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 1kg Brussels sprouts, untrimmed
- 300g sausage meat
- 300g unsmoked lardons
- handful of cooked chestnuts, chopped
- handful of parsley
- gravy: use Tom Booton's roasted rib of beef with bone marrow gravy recipe
Method
- Load and light your EGG and place the Stainless Steel Grid on top of the Fire Ring. Your target temperature is 220°C.
- Place a skillet on the grid while the EGG is coming up to temperature, then add in a dash of vegetable oil.
- While the pan and EGG are heating up, remove any damaged outer leaves from the sprouts and slice every sprout in half. They can be left whole or cut in quarters if they are small or enormous.
- Take the sausage meat out of the fridge. With wet hands, take chestnut-sized pinches of the meat and roll into balls.
- "Burp" the EGG and add your lardons to the pan. You're looking for the lardons to caramelise and crisp, flavouring the oil.
- Place your sausage balls on the stainless steel grid to grill.
- Once the lardons are crisp, lay your sprouts in the pan cut-side down. Do not stir. Close the dome and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, burping and opening occasionally to turn the meatballs.
- When your meatballs are nicely coloured, add them to the skillet. By now the cut edges of the sprouts should also be nicely charred and caramelised. Don't worry if some bit look a little burnt: it all adds to the flavour. Add in your chopped chestnuts and give it all a good stir, smashing the meatballs as you go.
- Add in your gravy and parsley. Combine, then simmer until the sauce has thickened and the brussels are nicely glazed. Serve.
Recipe from biggreenegg.com. Tom Booton's festive menu will be available at The Grill by Tom Booton at The Dorchester until the new year; dorchestercollection.com
Sign up for The Week's Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Burkina Faso's misinformation war
Under The Radar The president of the West African country has quickly become the face of a viral, AI-powered propaganda campaign
-
Jeffrey Epstein's secrets
Feature Six years after his death, conspiracy theories still swirl around the sex trafficker. Why?
-
Voting: Trump's ominous war on mail ballots
Feature Donald Trump wants to sign an executive order banning mail-in ballots for the 2026 midterms
-
Rigatoni with 'no-vodka sauce' recipe
The Week Recommends Comfort food meets a clever alcohol-free twist on a classic
-
One great cookbook: 'Jam Bakes'
The Week Recommends A guide to pristine jam-making, plus the baked goods that love them
-
5 of the best platonic TV friendships
the week recommends Maintaining boundaries has proven tricky for all but the most committed of buddies on the small screen
-
Conservatism is rising. Just look at the music.
In the spotlight The radio reflects American culture
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
The best singers turned actors of all time
In Depth It's not often that someone is born with both of these rare skill sets
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history