German Pole Beans with Pears and Bacon

From the garden

• 1½ lb pole beans, topped, tailed, and snapped into 2-inch lengths
• 4 small firm cooking pears, quartered and cored, peel left on · underripe fruit is what you want here; soft pears collapse
• 1½ lb waxy potatoes, peeled and halved
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
• 6 sprigs summer savory · the bean herb; a few thyme sprigs stand in if the savory is done

From the pantry

• 8 oz slab bacon, in one piece, or thick-cut slices · smoked pork belly (Speck) is the traditional cut
• 2 cups chicken stock · water works too, the bacon does the seasoning
• salt · to taste
• black pepper

1. Simmer the bacon in the stock with a cup of water in a wide pot, covered, for 20 minutes. Skip nothing here: the smoky broth it leaves behind is the backbone of the whole dish.
2. Add the onion and potatoes and cook 5 minutes at a lazy bubble rather than a hard boil, which would knock the potatoes apart before the beans are anywhere near done.
3. Pile the beans and savory sprigs over the potatoes, then set the pear quarters on top so they steam above the liquid instead of sinking into it and falling apart.
4. Cover and cook 20–25 minutes, until the beans are fully tender and sweet rather than squeaky, and a knife slides into a potato and a pear without resistance.
5. Lift out the bacon, slice it thick, and settle it back on top. Season with plenty of black pepper and salt to taste, then serve in shallow bowls with the broth spooned over.