Trotter Gear with prunes and bacon

Serves 4

Fergus Henderson's "unctuous" Trotter Gear is now on sale at Selfridges and other good food stores (e-mail info@trottergear.com for a list of stockists). The nights are getting cold and Fergus's concoction of slowly cooked pigs' trotters makes a fantastic base for this stew, which gains flavour every time it's re-heated.

1 large onion, peeled, halved and finely chopped
A good knob of butter
200g chunk of smoked streaky bacon, pancetta, or uncooked ham, cut into rough 1cm chunks
A couple of sprigs of thyme
1 bag (250g) of Trotter Gear
1 litre chicken stock

16 no-soak prunes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Gently cook the onion and bacon in the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan for 2-3 minutes until soft, add the Trotter Gear, thyme and stock, bring to the boil and simmer with a lid on for 1 hour or until the bacon is tender. Add the prunes then continue simmering without a lid for about 40 minutes or until the stock has reduced and thickened.