Petits Pois à la Française

Photo by Robyn Maguire / Styled by Catrine Kelty

This is a simple, fast dish to prepare and is incredibly versatile. You take beautiful smoked bacon, pair it with spring onions, fresh butter and spring peas and you get sweet, slightly salty, unctuous bites that just remind me of our time in France. Perfect with the St. Rémy Provençal lamb skewers, but just as nice with grilled fish or a tarragon roasted chicken.

Serves 4

8 ounces smoked bacon, cut into lardons (thin strips, crosswise)
6 spring onions, bulbs only, cut in half
3 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
16 ounces fresh peas, blanched (or the same amount of frozen peas, thawed)
½ cup chicken stock
1 cup thinly sliced spring onion tops

Heat a pan over medium-high heat, add lardons and fry until golden. Transfer crisped lardons to a paper towel to drain. Pour out the bacon fat and discard, or reserve for another use.

Add halved onion bulbs and butter to the pan and stir occasionally until onion is tender. Add peas and stock, then bring to a simmer. Cook until peas are just tender.

Season to taste with salt, garnish with lardons and sliced spring onion tops and serve warm with the lamb skewers (see recipe here).

This recipe appeared in the Spring 2021 issue as part of a larger story called “Printemps en Provence: A Sunday Lunch Menu.”