Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Carrots with Almond Mole
North of the border, we tend to think of mole as a sauce for poultry, and not without reason. Perhaps the most famous mole dish is turkey with mole poblano. But that is only one dish, and mole poblano is just one of hundreds of moles. Mole almendrado would certainly work well with poultry but perhaps pairs even more successfully with roasted vegetables.
While this recipe is written for the oven, there is no reason the carrots and Brussels sprouts could not be grilled or even smoked to intensify the Baja character of the dish. Doing so would only pair them better with the sweetness of the mole.
Reprinted with permission from Cali-Baja Cuisine: From Tijuana’s Taco Stands to San Diego’s Cali-Baja Burritos (Rizzoli, September 2023)
Ingredients
For the Roasted Carrots:
- 12 medium carrots
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt
For the Roasted Brussels Sprouts:
- 12 Brussels sprouts
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Mole Sauce:
- 1 cup Almond Mole (see below)
- ½ cup Chicken Stock, Roasted Vegetable Stock, or Vegetable Stock
For the Almond Mole (Makes 2 quarts):
- 5 dried ancho chiles
- 5 dried pasilla chiles
- ½ cup lard
- 5 dried chipotle chiles
- 1½ cups almonds
- 1 cup walnuts
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- ½ cup unsalted roasted peanuts
- 5 tablespoons raisins
- 1 Corn Tortilla
- ½ bolillo (Mexican roll), or ¼ small baguette
- ½ unripe plantain, sliced
- 2 medium plum tomatoes, cored
- ½ medium white onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 whole cloves
- ½ teaspoon anise seed
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon coriander seeds
- 5 whole black peppercorns
- 8 cups Chicken Stock
- 1 (3.2-ounce) tablet Mexican chocolate
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
Preparation
To make the Almond Mole:
Remove the seeds and veins of the ancho and pasilla chiles. In a large sauté pan, melt ¼ cup of the lard over medium heat. Add the ancho, pasilla, and chipotle chiles and fry until they take on a darker color, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chiles to a high-speed blender or food processor.
Add the almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, peanuts, and raisins to the sauté pan and cook until they take on some color, 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to the blender. Add the tortilla and bolillo to the sauté pan and cook until they, too, take on color, about 40 seconds. Transfer them to the blender.
Melt the remaining ¼ cup lard in the sauté pan over medium heat and add the plantain, tomatoes, onion, garlic, cloves, anise, cumin, coriander, and peppercorns and cook, stirring regularly, until the onion is soft. Transfer the contents of the pan to the blender and add 3 cups of the stock. Blend on high speed to fully combine the ingredients.
Combine the chocolate tablet, remaining 5 cups stock, and the salt in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring regularly. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring regularly, until the chocolate has fully melted and the mixture is incorporated, about 5 minutes.
Add the contents of the blender to the Dutch oven and raise the heat to return the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring periodically, until the mole thickens and acquires a more intense color, 20 to 30 minutes. Use the immediately or cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
To prepare the vegetables:
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove all but the last ¼ inch of the stems of the carrots. Toss the carrots in the olive oil and season with the cumin and salt. Put the carrots on the prepared baking sheet.
Trim off the brown part of the base of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellowed outer leaves. Slice the Brussels sprouts in half from the center of the top down through their base. Place the Brussels sprout halves a bowl, toss with the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place them on the baking sheet with the carrots.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast until the Brussels sprouts are crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, 35 to 40 minutes. The carrots are done when you can pierce them with a knife and the blade slides easily into the middle. Check the vegetables for seasoning.
While the vegetables are roasting, put the almond mole and stock in a small saucepan, break up the paste with a wooden spoon, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer; simmer until it reaches a thick sauce-like consistency, about 20 minutes.
Arrange the vegetables on a plate and drizzle with the mole.
Michael A. Gardiner
Michael A. Gardiner is the author of Modern Kosher: Global Flavors, New Traditions (Rizzoli, 2020), a regular food writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego’s newspaper of record, and long-time restaurant reviewer for San Diego CityBeat. Gardiner won 2018, 2019 and 2020 San Diego Press Club awards for his contributions to both publications. He is also a freelance writer for Edible San Diego, Thrillist, and Fox News Latino, amongst other publications.
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