Petits pois à la Française
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
Petits pois à la Française
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.
If delicious side dishes are what you're craving, my Truffle Potato Gratin is off the hook, or my classic roast potatoes recipe is a favourite.
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
How to make it - step by step!
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.
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.
Serve in the pot or on a platter, garnish with a few thyme leaves.
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.
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.
Serve in the pot or on a platter, garnish with a few thyme leaves.
Watch the how to video
Watch the how to video
Petits pois à la Française
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Serve in the pot or on a platter, garnish with a few thyme leaves.