Name: Grilled Fig, Bacon, Borlotti Bean, Tomato and Mesclun Salad
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 700 g borlotti beans in the shell (or any other fresh bean); 1 bay leaf; 1 garlic clove, unpeeled; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 handfuls of mesclun (mixed salad leaves); 8 fresh thyme stems; 10 cm sprig of rosemary; 1 small onion, peeled and halved; 2 large juicy lemons; 6 ripe figs, halved lengthways; 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 6–8 tomatoes; 8 slices of smoked streaky bacon; ¼ red chilli, finely chopped

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Salads

By Peter Gordon

Published 2005

About

In August 2004 I was in the Ligurian seaside town of Lerice with my partner, Michael, and our very good friends Stephen and Marina, to celebrate their son Raphael’s arrival six months earlier The beautiful sixties hillside apartment we were staying in belonged to Marina’s sister and shared a private beach with four others. One morning the gardener arrived with the first figs of the season and a few wild str