Boiled collar of bacon with split pea puree recipe

By Debbie Major

Serves 4-6
Takes 2 hours to make, plus overnight soaking
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Rating

Forget the gammon for now. It's nice, but collar of bacon is so much more juicy and succulent. Slow-cooking it makes the most of its sweet flavours and soft texture, making for a real hearty British dish. Adding some fresh mint to the pea purée along with the butter gives it a comforting kick.

Boiled collar of bacon with split pea puree

Ingredients

1.5kg piece boned and rolled prime collar of bacon
2 onions, halved through the stem
6 cloves
4 fresh bay leaves, plus extra to garnish
12 black peppercorns
3 large carrots, each cut into 3 pieces
6 (about 100g each) floury potatoes, halved
1 small or 1/2 large (about 500-600g) tightly packed green cabbage
For the split pea purée
450g dried yellow split peas
1 onion, halved through the stem
6 cloves
2 fresh bay leaves, plus extra to garnish
1 large sprig fresh thyme
Small bunch fresh parsley stalks
1 fat celery stick, halved
25g butter

Method

1. Soak the piece of bacon overnight in plenty of water. Put the split peas into another bowl, cover with plenty of water and leave them to soak alongside the bacon.
2. The next day, drain both the bacon and the peas. Put the bacon into a large pan, add plenty of fresh cold water until covered by 2-3cm and bring slowly to the boil. Check that the water isn’t too salty – if it is, change the water.
3. Stud the 2 onions for the bacon with the cloves and add to the pan with the bay leaves and peppercorns. Lower the heat so that the water is just simmering and leave to cook for 11/4 hours.
4. Meanwhile, make the split pea purée. Stud the onion halves with the cloves. Make a bouquet garni by bunching together the herbs and sandwiching them in between the 2 pieces of celery and tying everything into a tight bundle with some string.
5. Put the drained peas into a pan with the studded onion and bouquet garni and cover with 1.2 litres of cold water (but no salt or it will make the peas harden). Bring to the boil, skimming off any scum as it rises to the surface, and leave to simmer gently for 1 hour, until most of the liquid has evaporated but the mixture is still a little wet. The peas will continue to absorb the remaining liquid as it rests. Remove the bouquet garni and onions towards the end of cooking – just before they begin to fall apart. (You can reserve the onions to garnish the purée if you like.) Stir in the butter, season to taste, cover and set aside.
6. After the bacon has been cooking for 11/4 hours, add the carrots and bring back to the boil. Add the potatoes and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, remove the outer leaves of the cabbage and trim the stalk. Cut into 8 thin wedges and cut away the thickest part of the core, but leave some to help hold the leaves together during cooking.
8. Now lift the piece of bacon onto a board, cover tightly with a piece of foil. Remove the potatoes and carrots to a warmed dish, cover and keep hot. Add the cabbage to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes until tender. Gently reheat the split pea purée, adding a little of the bacon’s cooking liquor if it’s a bit too stiff. Discard the remaining cooking liquor. Carve the bacon across into slices and serve with the vegetables, pea purée and some English mustard if you wish. Garnish with extra bay leaves.