Easy Pea-sy

One of the best things about summer is all the easy snack options (it's a fruit smorgasbord). This week we are enjoying a vegetable — the humble little pea. They are a great compact travel snack with their own biodegradable or edible packaging. Kids love opening the pod and counting how many juicy green balls are inside. And because they are in season they are cheap. We got a 1 kilo bag for $4 at our local farmers' market. They taste just lovely as is but if you want to take it to the next level you can drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle a little sea salt over a dish of shelled peas. We call them Love Peas (our kids say they melt in your mouth like love). And then there's the Jamie Oliver level. This is truly delicious.
Buttered peas with crunchy bacon from COOK with Jamie
4 big handfuls of fresh peas
5 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, finely sliced
olive oil
knob of butter
1 lemon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the peas into boiling water and cook for 3 minutes or until tender. Fry the bacon slices in a tiny bit of olive oil until golden and crisp, then remove them to a dish and keep the pan with all the juices left in. Drain your peas, reserving a little cup of cooking water, and add them to the pan with the bacon fat, but don't put the pan back on the heat as you don't want to fry them. Add a knob of butter, a tiny squeeze of lemon juice and little sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Add a little splash of cooking water to delicately coat and glaze the peas. Serve in a bowl with crispy bacon bits on top.