Anyone who has shelled a bag of peas will know how good they are raw. Far too little is made of their scrunchy sweetness, and I put forward the pod-fresh raw pea as an idea to throw into salads of pale yellow butterhead lettuce, cracked wheat, or dishes of cooked fava beans. They work in their uncooked state only when very young and small. Old peas are mealy and sour. One rainy lunchtime in June, I put them into a simple salad of Peter Rabbit lettuce, crisply cooked smoked bacon, and hand-torn ciabatta. The result—restrained, refreshing, and somehow quintessentially English.
Recipe information
Yield
enough for 4
Ingredients
For the Dressing
Preparation
Step 1
Trim the bacon and discard its rind. Cut it into short lengths and cook in a nonstick pan, with a little oil if necessary, until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on paper towels.
Step 2
Tear the bread into small, jagged-edged pieces, discarding the crusts as you go. Fry in the pan in which you cooked the bacon, adding more oil as necessary. As soon as the pieces are nicely golden and blessed with the flavor of the smoked bacon, remove to paper towels to drain and salt them lightly.
Step 3
While the bread and bacon are cooking, wash the lettuce, separate the leaves, tear them into manageable pieces, and put them in a serving bowl. Finely shred the fennel and toss it into the lettuce leaves with the peas. Make the dressing by mixing the mustard, vinegar, a grinding of salt and pepper, and the oil in a small bowl or shaking them together in a small jar.
Step 4
Put the hot bacon and bread in the salad, gently toss with the dressing, then serve immediately.
