A recipe for broad beans with dill and bacon

Put a deep pan of water on to boil, salt it lightly then add 250g of podded broad beans. Cook them for about 5 or 6 minutes till they feel tender, then drain and plunge the broad beans into cold water. At this point you can either take a few minutes to pop the beans from their papery shells or not, as you think fit. If the broad beans are small and young, I usually leave the skins on, but as the season progresses (or if I’m using frozen beans) I squeeze them out of their skins.
Remove the dark shoots from 4 thin spring onions and slice the rest very finely. Drop them into a small bowl. Take a small bunch of dill, about 7 or 8 stems and chop finely, then add to the bowl. Finely shred 10 mint leaves, stir them into the dill and spring onions then add 4 tbsp of white wine vinegar. Crumble in a little salt and grind in some black pepper then pour in 100ml of olive oil. Set the bowl aside.
Warm a frying pan over a moderate heat, add a little olive oil to the pan then fry 6 rashers of smoked back bacon until lightly crisp. Toss the broad beans in the dressing and divide between 2 plates, add the bacon then spoon the hot fat left in the pan over the salad.
Enough for 2. Ready in 45 minutes.
I sometimes make a version of this using butter beans, warming them in a little oil in a shallow pan then stirring in the spring onion and dill before introducing the cooked rashers of smoked back bacon.
If dill isn’t your thing then use parsley leaves (which are very good with broad beans).
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