this little plate

Petits pois à la Française

Serves 4| Ready in 20 mins
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The ultimate comfort food side dish. Sweet peas cooked with bacon, garlic and leek, braised in stock with lettuce and an overly generous amount of butter. This delicious side dish takes the attention away from most main courses - Sorry not sorry.

Petits pois à la Française

Nothing else gives ‘home comfort food’ quite like this Petits pois à la Française recipe. Like if you look up comfort food in the dictionary, you’ll see this dish.

Petits pois à la Française, as you may have guessed, is a French dish, translated ‘Little peas, the French way’, which includes braised lettuce, a supremely underrated thing to eat, it’s amazing.

Typically, onion is used but I have subbed for leek. I love the sweeter, more delicate flavour that leek brings to this kind of cooking.

I love to make this whenever I’m making a roast chicken but it also pairs really well with lamb, fish or simply serve with a fresh sourdough baguette layered with butter to mop up the sauce. Happiness on a plate.

Frequently asked questions
What substitutions or tweaks can I make?

If you can’t find spec, use streaky bacon. It’s delish. You could add a dash of white wine if you have on hand. Adding extra herbs would be lovely too. It’s a great dish to really make your own.

Ingredients and substitutions

Ingredients including peas, bacon, lettuce, butter, garlic, thyme, leek, olive oil
Spec or bacon
Add a delicious smokey flavour
Peas
You can use fresh but I like to use frozen to save on time
Leek
Adds a lovely sweet allium flavour
Garlic
For a nice depth of flavour
Chicken broth or stock
To make the sauce
Gem lettuce
Or any firm lettuce variety
Olive oil & butter
For cooking and adding a luxurious texture
Salt & pepper
To season
Thyme leaves
For a fragrant garnish (optional)

How to make it - step by step!

Bacon, garlic and leek in a pan
1. Fry spec, leek and garlic

Add olive oil and spec/bacon to a pan, saute for 3 minutes until caramelised, then add leek and garlic, cook for another 3 minutes.

Peas, lettuce, bacon in a pan
2. Add peas, lettuce and stock

Add in peas, stock and lettuce, stir to combine then add the butter. Cook for another couple of minutes until the peas are heated through and the lettuce has become slightly tender. Crack over some pepper, taste and adjust seasoning.

A plate of peas, bacon and lettuce with a spoon of butter
3. Serve

Serve in the pot or on a platter, garnish with a few thyme leaves.

Watch the how to video

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Petits pois à la Française

Cook Time
15 mins
Prep Time
5 mins
Serves
4
The ultimate comfort food side dish. Sweet peas cooked with bacon, garlic and leek, braised in stock with lettuce and an overly generous amount of butter. This delicious side dish takes the attention away from most main courses - Sorry not sorry.
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 200g spec or bacon, sliced into lardons
  • 1 leek, halved, rinsed and sliced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely diced
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • ½ cup chicken broth or stock
  • 1 gem lettuce, sliced into 1.5 cm slices
  • 80g butter
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp thyme
Category - Sides
Cuisine - French
Skill Level - Super easy
Other categories -
Entertaining, Christmas, Sides
Nutritional information
Calories 489.0 kcal24%
Carbohydrates 20.3 g7%
Sodium 669.9 mg29%
Magnesium 48.5 mg12%
Protein 12.9 g26%
Sugar 8.1 g9%
Calcium 69.8 mg7%
Vitamin A 43%
Fat 40.5 g62%
Fiber 6.3 g25%
Iron 2.5 mg14%
Vitamin C 44%

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