Spinach and bacon salad with avocado vinaigrette
There’s a reason the trusty tomato, greens and bacon combo is ubiquitous – it simply can’t be beaten.
Serves 3-4
1 bunch fresh spinach, roughly chopped
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
25g almonds, sliced and toasted
1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed
1 medium tomato, chopped (optional)
For the vinaigrette
60ml olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp soy sauce
½ tsp brown sugar
1 medium avocado, peeled pitted and diced
1 Make the vinaigrette: whisk the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, soy and sugar in a bowl until well combined. Mix in the avocado, leaving it diced, or mash for a creamy texture. Set aside.
2 Dress the spinach with the vinaigrette and toss well. Mix in the bacon, almonds, avocado and tomato, if using, and serve immediately.
Todd Porter and Diane Cu, Bountiful (Stewart Tabori and Chang)
Bacon and egg pie
This is New Zealand’s packed lunch of choice for sports day – and you can see why: what famished sprinter wouldn’t think their mum totally rules with a stack of slices of this fry-up in puff pastry?
Serves 9-12
250g streaky bacon
30g butter, plus extra for greasing
Flour, for dusting
375g frozen puff pastry
2 tomatoes
9 eggs
2 egg yolks
Salt and black pepper
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Lay the strips of bacon on a baking tray with a few knobs of butter and bake for 5 minutes or so. Take the bacon out but leave the oven on.
2 Using a little more butter, grease a rectangular baking tray about 30cm long. Flour your surface and roll out the pastry. Cut it in half, then, using a rolling pin, roll out one half until it is large enough to line the tray and let the pastry come halfway up the sides of the tray – this is important to prevent the egg leaking out later.
3 Cover the pastry with the bacon – you may need to break it into strips to make sure that the pastry is evenly covered. Slice the tomatoes and lay them over the bacon. Crack the eggs evenly on top.
4 Roll out the rest of the pastry and cut it into thin strips, placing it over the eggs in a lattice pattern.
5 Beat the egg yolks with a little salt and pepper and glaze the pastry with the mixture, using a pastry brush or your fingers.
6 Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Set aside to cool slightly, then cut into pieces and serve.
Margot Henderson, You’re All Invited (Fig Tree)
Creamed corn with crispy grilled bacon on sourdough
The classic bacon and cream, salty-sweet, and bacon and bread duos all come together in this US-style breakfast.
Serves 2
1 small white onion, very finely chopped
2 knobs of butter, plus extra for spreading
2 corn cobs, leaves removed
180ml water
6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
A glug of single cream
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
2 thick slices sourdough bread
Salt and black pepper
1 Set the grill to medium-high. Sweat the onion in a frying pan over a low heat in a knob of butter. Cut away the kernels. Repeat with a second cob and – try to include the base kernels, where lots of the juice is held from the corn cobs then add them to the onions, stir and add the water. Add a knob of butter and bring to a simmer under a lid for 10 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, grill the bacon on the highest shelf until crisp, turning halfway through.
3 When the corn is tender, add a little cream and nutmeg. Season, then blitz until smooth.
4 Keep warm while you toast or grill the bread. Butter it, then top with corn and bacon.
Rosie French and Ellie Grace, (Kyle Books)
Aunty Ruby’s minchee pork
A little bacon adds great depth of flavour to anything slowly simmered – here, a savoury, spicy Caribbean pork stew. Chinese yellow soybean paste can be found in Asian supermarkets.
Serves 4
450g pork belly, cut into 5cm wide strips
2 tbsp groundnut or corn oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 rashers of smoked back bacon, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbsp shredded white cabbage
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp yellow soybean paste
A few dashes of light soy sauce
½ tsp West Indian pepper sauce, such as Encona
Finely sliced spring onions, to garnish
1 Put the pork in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain the pork, let it cool and then slice into 5mm wide strips.
2 Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and bacon and saute for about 5 minutes until the bacon is just cooked through and the onion is soft. Add the garlic and cook for a further 1 minute.
3 Add the cabbage and combine and then season with the black pepper. Stir in the yellow bean paste and soy sauce. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for about 25 minutes until the pork is tender.
4 Just before serving, add the pepper sauce and check for seasoning – the dish should not need salt, as the yellow bean paste is very salty. Garnish with the spring onions and serve over white rice with steamed greens.
Jonathan Phang, The Pepperpot Club (Hardie Grant)
Bacon and marmalade cornbread
Cornbread’s buttery crumble is taken to new heights here with a scattering of crisp bacon bits and citrus peel nuggets.
Serves 6
20g lard or 1 tbsp oil
4 rashers of streaky smoked bacon, finely chopped
200g medium cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp soft brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
500ml buttermilk
2 tbsp chopped mixed peel
1 Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Heat the fat in a small, ovenproof, heavy-based frying pan (about 20cm diameter) until it sizzles. Add the bacon and cook until crisp.
2 Meanwhile, mix the cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl and whisk the egg and buttermilk in a jug. Lift the bacon out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside, keeping the pan on the heat.
3 Pour the egg mixture into the cornmeal mix and stir, then fold through the bacon and peel, followed by the bacon drippings from the pan.
4 Tip the batter into the hot pan and bake for about 25 minutes, until golden on top. Let it sit for a few minutes before turning it out. Serve cut into wedges, with plenty of butter.
Felicity Cloake, Perfect Host (Fig Tree)
Flammkuchen
Also called a tarte flambée, this traditional Alsatian/German bake pairs bacon with cream and onions for a snack you’ll want to make a lot of.
Serves 4
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp fast-action dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
250ml warm water
30ml vegetable oil
200g smoked streaky bacon
500ml full-fat creme fraiche or sour cream
1 tsp caraway seeds or a little grated nutmeg (optional)
500g onions, thinly sliced
Salt and black pepper
1 To make the dough, mix the flour, yeast and sugar together in a large bowl. Dissolve the salt in the warm water, pour it into the flour and combine with your hands to make a rough dough. Add more water if necessary, and then the oil. Knead vigorously for 10 minutes until the dough has a very silky texture. Place in a bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to rise for 2 hours in a warm place.
2 Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 260C/500F/gas mark 9. Cut the bacon rashers into thin strips. Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.
3 On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough as thinly as possible to make 2 large rounds, and transfer them to the baking sheets. Spread the crème fraîche all over the base, season well with salt and pepper and nutmeg or caraway seeds, if using, and scatter the sliced onions all over. Sprinkle the bacon strips evenly over the top.
4 Bake in the oven for 10–15 minutes, or until the edges are very crisp. Serve with a green salad of fresh peppery greens.
Simon Cave, Manly Food (Quadrille)
Grilled sardines on toast with bacon, basil and tomato
A sophisticated tartine, with fresh fish fillets and streaky bacon rashers.
Serves 4
8 butterflied sardine fillets (opened out flat, bones removed)
A bunch of basil, leaves picked, stalks reserved
400g cherry tomatoes, about 35-40, halved
2 tbsp finely diced red onion
4 tbsp sherry vinegar
120ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1½ lemons, in halves ready for squeezing
Sea salt and black pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
4 rashers of streaky bacon
120g tin sardines in tomato sauce
4 slices of thick country bread (such as ciabatta or sourdough)
1 garlic clove, peeled and halved
1 Put the basil leaves (reserving a few for garnishing) into a bowl with half the cherry tomatoes. Add the onion, vinegar, oil and the juice of ½ a lemon. Toss and season with salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, heat a little vegetable oil in a small wide pan and fry the bacon rashers until crisp. Remove, drain on kitchen paper and set aside.
3 Into the same pan, tip the tinned sardines, basil stalks and remaining tomatoes. Simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the juice of ½ a lemon. Puree in a blender until smooth, press through a sieve into a bowl and season.
4 Char the bread under a grill, drizzle with olive oil and rub with the cut garlic clove.
5 Heat a good splash of vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Pan-fry the sardine fillets, skin-side down first, for 1–2 minutes on each side until cooked. Season and add a squeeze of lemon.
6 Drizzle a little sardine sauce on each plate and lay a slice of toast in the middle. Top with the tomato salad, followed by the sardines, bacon and basil. Finish with a drizzle of the sardine sauce and a little olive oil.
Jason Atherton, Gourmet Food for a Fiver (Quadrille)
Cannellini, bacon and sage puree
An aromatic alternative to hummus, combining bacon’s salty crunch with the smoothness of the beans and sage. Serve piled high on toasted sourdough with something crisp and crunchy – cucumber or red romaine.
Serves 4
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 rashers smoked bacon, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
6 sage leaves, finely chopped
250g home-cooked cannellini beans or 1 x 400g can cannellini beans
2 tbsp bean cooking water, water or stock
Juice of ½–1 lemon
2–3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper
1 Fry the onion in a saucepan until soft. Add the bacon. Cook until it begins to turn brown and crisp at the edges. Add the garlic and sage, stirring until the garlic begins to turn golden but not burn.
2 Tip in the beans and 2 tbsp of stock or water. Mash with the back of a wooden spoon or food processor or with a hand-held blender.
3 Add the lemon juice and enough extra-virgin oil to give a rich and creamy consistency to add some fresh zip. Season well with salt and pepper.
Jenny Chandler, Pulse (Pavilion)
Griddled sprouts with bacon and prunes
Bacon and prunes are another of those perfect pairings, here judiciously set against a background of slightly bitter sprouts. An excellent autumnal side for a roast.
Serves 2
200g sprouts,blanched and halved
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
6 rashers smoked streaky bacon
5 prunes, chopped
A handful of parsley, chopped
A squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
1 Heat a griddle pan. Toss the sprouts in oil and season well. Griddle them cut-side down for a few minutes until well-charred.
2 Roast the bacon in the oven until crispy then chop roughly. Stir the bacon and prunes through the sprouts and sprinkle with parsley. Add a squeeze of lemon, if you like.
Olia Hercules, oliahercules.com
Scallops with maple bacon and pea puree
Serve with a pile of chips for the poshest take on fish, chips and mushy peas ever.
Serves 4
200g smoked, dry-cured bacon lardons
75ml maple syrup
A pinch of mixed spice
A knob of butter
A splash of oil
12 scallops, cleaned and patted dry
For the puree
25g butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp lemon thyme, leaves only
400g frozen peas, defrosted
200ml milk
100ml double cream
Juice and zest of ½ lemon
Black pepper
1 To make the puree, melt the butter over a low heat, add the shallots and cook for about 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in the thyme, peas and milk. Turn up the heat and cook for 4 minutes, or until the peas are tender. Remove from the heat, add the cream and blend with a hand blender until smooth. Season with lemon juice, zest and pepper, add a little salt, but bear in mind the bacon will be salty. Set aside and keep warm.
2 Fry the bacon for 2 minutes until it starts to caramelise and turn golden. Add the syrup and spice, then cook until dark and sticky. Set aside and keep warm. Return the pan to the heat, add the butter and oil. When bubbling, fry the scallops for 2-3 minutes on each side.
3 To serve, spoon some pea puree on to a plate, top with scallops and bacon bits.
Rosie Reynolds, rosiereynolds.co.uk
