Broad Beans and Bacon on Toast

We had the Blonde and her fella over at the weekend, with Boozer too, we ate pork and broad beans; bacon and black pudding with a broad bean and pea purée, it was delicious. We ate pork and broad beans last week, and here I am cooking pork and broad beans again for supper... The theme will stop, I will tell you about other ingredients again after this I promise... Like the fact that I have ordered stuff to start making my own Homemade Salami this weekend. By 'stuff' I mean 3 spools of 38mm English hog casings to be precise, yes, intestines... I have been reading all types of different advice on how to go about making salami and I think I'm ready with a chosen method... I will keep you posted on how I get on, during construction and the end results... They will be ready in a month, I'm looking forward to it already and I haven’t even begun...

So as a result of left over bacon and my broad bean plants still rapidly producing pods I cooked up a simple supper that was pretty quick and easy to put together.

Start by podding the broad beans, about a handful per person. Blanch them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes if they are very fresh, longer if they are not. Remove and drain them and keep to one side. Chop 4 slices of unsmoked streaky bacon per person into small strips and add to a dry frying pan, it will produce its own fat so there is no need for oil. Fry until it is crispy and browning at the edges, then add the broad beans, the juice of half a lemon, some black pepper and cook for a minute longer.

Pour the beans, bacon and lemony juice over some toasted brown bread, I used an Irish wheaten loaf that I love, and finally add a large handful of chopped flat leaf parsley. I suppose you could call it beans on toast, only it is a bit tastier... The sweet soft beans with salty bacon, tart lemon and warming brown toast are delicious all together.