I ate this rather soothing way with lettuce twice last week, once for lunch, accompanied by a piece of salmon, the second time for supper, with nothing but a hunk of soft farmhouse bread, the sort with a dusting of white flour on top. Light, juicy, and clean tasting.

　　

Ingredients

enough for 2 as a light meal, 4 as a side dish

　　medium lettuces – 2

　　butter – a thick slice

　　unsmoked bacon – 2 1/2 ounces (75g), diced

　　small leeks – 2

　　shelled peas or fava beans – 1 2/3 cups (250g)

　　vegetable stock – 1 cup (250ml)

　　

Step 1

Pull away and discard any tatty leaves from the lettuces, then cut each lettuce into quarters. Wash under cold running water to remove any trapped grit or aphids.

　　

Step 2

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan to which you have a lid. Add the diced bacon and let it stew in the butter for five minutes or so over medium heat. Meanwhile trim and wash the leeks and cut them into short pieces. Add them to the pan and continue cooking, stirring now and again, until they have started to soften.

　　

Step 3

Add the peas or fava beans, lettuce, and stock, add a seasoning of salt and black pepper, and bring to a boil. Turn it down as soon as it starts to bubble furiously, then cover with a tightly fitting lid. Let simmer for twenty minutes, by which time the lettuce will have sunk to four silky mounds and the liquid will have almost vanished.

　　

Step 4

Lift out the lettuce, leeks, peas, and bacon with a slotted spoon and place on a serving dish. If there is more than a ladleful of liquid in the pan, increase the heat and boil furiously to reduce it a little. Check the seasoning and pour it over the lettuce.

　　Tender