Peas and sprouts are not something you combined very often however both vegetables benefit from the addition of a little crispy bacon so why not put all three together. This dish just mixed the peas, sprouts and bacon together for a fab dish of greens on our Christmas table one year. Cutting the sprouts in half to reduce the cooking time was one of Johns inspirations and they taste so much better for it. So we no longer leave sprouts whole however we choose to cook them.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 450g Frozen peas
- 450g Brussels sprouts trimmed and halved
- 100g packet of pancetta or 4 pieces of streaky bacon
- a little oil or butter
You will also need
- A medium sized saucepan or steamer
- A additional medium sized saucepan
- Optional - a warmed serving dish
Method
- Boil or steam the sprouts for 10 mins max.
- heat the oil or butter in a pan
- add the pancetta/bacon and cook until starting to brown
- reduce the heat slightly then add the peas and cook for 2 - 3 mins
- stir in the cooked sprouts and mix ensuring some of the bacon juices cover them
- remove from the heat and place in a wormed serving dish
Eat and enjoy!
Serving suggestions and variations
- This is a great way to serve peas and sprouts at Christmas or at any other celebration meal however it is simple to put together so don't just save it for a special occasion
- Only ever use fresh sprouts, don't be tempted to use frozen - keep it seasonal I beg of you
- If you want to avoid bacon try frying off 1 chopped onion instead - it is a different dish though.
- If you can't face sprouts at all try boiling a few baby onions in a little water with some butter and sugar until syrupy and adding instead, this dish is called Petit Pois Bonne Femme.
Acknowledgements
This recipe has evolved from a strong desire to have peas at Christmas at a time when we were encouraging Simon to eat sprouts. Our cook book "The Taste of France" has a recipe called Petit Pois Bonne Femme which uses baby onions, we thought the onions were sprouts in the photo and hey presto we got inventive.
If you like this recipe then you may also like to try these recipes from our collection:
- Peas and sprouts are a Christmas side for us, a special potato dish includes our Pomme Darphin aux Oignons, give them a go
- For a special starter or luxury breakfast try our Blinis with Smoked Trout and Eggy Scramble
- Looking for comfort in a pudding, then you can't do much better than our Banoffee Pie - sumptious!
Happy Eating!