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Warm broad bean salad with bacon

Published: 31 Jul 11
Updated: 18 Mar 24

This warm broad bean and bacon salad recipe is great served with hunks of fresh crusty white bread.

Don’t know how to prepare broad beans? First, pod the beans from their velvet-lined, green and long pod. You usually get around 5 or 6 usable beans in each pod, and at this stage, they can look quite greyish in colour.

Then, follow step 1 below – this technique is often known as ‘double-podding’, and while fiddly, is well worth the effort for the incredibly tender, bright green beans you’ll find.

Easy
August 2011

Test kitchen approved

Serves 4
Takes 40 minutes to make, 15 minutes to cook

This warm broad bean and bacon salad recipe is great served with hunks of fresh crusty white bread.

Then, follow step 1 below – this technique is often known as ‘double-podding’, and while fiddly, is well worth the effort for the incredibly tender, bright green beans you’ll find.

Per serving: 275kcals, 20.2g fat (4.6g saturated), 13.5g protein, 10.4g carbs (2.4g sugars), 1.2g salt, 10.9g fibre

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Ingredients

500g podded broad beans
150g rindless, smoked, dry cured streaky bacon
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tsp and extra to serve
1 fat garlic clove, finely chopped
50g (1-2) shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh flatleaf parsley or mint
Sea salt flakes

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Method

Drop the beans into a pan of well-salted boiling water and cook for 5 minutes or until just tender. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, nick the skin of each one with your fingernail and pop out the bright green beans.
Cut the bacon rashers crossways into thin strips (about 2cm). Heat the 1 tsp of oil in a large frying pan, add the bacon and stir-fry over a high heat for about 3 minutes until crisp and golden. Tip onto a plate lined with kitchen paper and set aside.
Add the 3 tbsp oil and the garlic to the pan and put over a medium heat. As soon as the garlic is sizzling (but not browned), turn down the heat, add the shallots, then soften for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the beans. Stir for 2 minutes until warmed through.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, most of the crisp bacon, the parsley or mint and some seasoning to taste. Spoon onto a serving plate, drizzle over a little more oil, then scatter over the remaining crisp bacon and a few sea salt flakes and serve.