Fried goose egg with broad beans and smoked bacon

Serves 4

(Jason Lowe Ltd)

Goose eggs are starting to appear in specialist shops and supermarkets, thanks to Clarence Court's special egg collections (available in Waitrose). A goose egg is at least double the size of a duck egg, so it's a meal in itself. You can create lots of interesting dishes with them. Try scattering shrimps and samphire over one, or spice one up with some chorizo.

4 goose eggs
100g smoked bacon cut into rough 1/2cm cubes or use cubed pancetta
250-300g broad beans, podded
A couple of tablespoons of olive oil
A couple of good knobs of butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the beans in boiling salted water for 2-4 minutes until tender, depending on their size, then drain and leave to cool. You can shell any large ones if you wish. Melt a little oil in a small frying pan and gently cook the pieces of bacon for 3-4 minutes without colouring them too much. Meanwhile, gently fry the goose eggs in a little of the olive oil – you may have to do this in batches depending on how many frying pans you have in your cupboard. They will take a lot longer than duck eggs because of their size so a low heat is required.

To serve, add the broad beans and the butter to the bacon and warm through for a couple of minutes. Transfer the eggs to warmed serving plates and spoon the beans around.