Piselli alla Fiorentina / Fresh Peas alla Fiorentina

Fresh peas are perhaps at their most exquisite just blanched for about two minutes in salted water, dressed with a good drizzle of olive oil and and a few drops of lemon juice or white wine vinegar. 

The „less is more rule” is most suitable here.

If you however, feel like straying from the above convention the Piselli alla Fiorentina recipe is a fabulous and slightly more complex flavour concoction that you may want to give it a try.

I like to brown pancetta in the pan slightly more than it would be done traditionally. I just love the extra depth of flavour that it carries to the dish.

Occasionally, instead of parsley I stir in some chopped fresh mint leaves towards the very end of cooking, giving a hint of freshness to this florentine side dish.

Serves 4-6:

• 2 kg of fresh peas (non shelled)
• about 100g of pancetta or cooked ham, cut into lardons
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1.5 -2 tablespoons of sugar
• a small bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
• salt
• pepper
• 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

Start with shelling the peas.

Heat up in a frying on a medium heat the olive oil.

Add the pancetta or ham lardons and fry gently for a couple of minutes. Allow more time for the pancetta and it’s fat to melt a little.

Add the sliced garlic and fry everything for the next 2-3 minutes.

Next stir in the sugar, add the peas, chopped parsley and season with some salt and pepper.

Cover with water (water should be only just be covering the peas), give it a good stir and cook on a gentle heat for about 35-40 minutes. Taste and season again to your liking. Serve warm.