Provençal picnic sandwich (Pan bagnat)
This is a speciality of Nice and is filled with Niçoise salad ingredients. A great way to use up slightly stale bread, the recipe contains tuna and anchovies but if you are vegetarian, you could substitute with cheese (such as mozzarella or slices of goats’ cheese) or roasted peppers, aubergines, courgettes and mushrooms. Make this a day ahead and keep weighted down in the fridge so all the juices seep into the bread.
Ingredients
- 1 pain de campagne or round sourdough loaf (about 400g/14oz)
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or grated
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 or 3 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
- 15cm/6in piece of cucumber, sliced
- 225g tin tuna in olive oil, drained
- 6 anchovies in olive oil, drained
- 3 hard-boiled free-range eggs, peeled and sliced
- 20 Niçoise or Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- 1 tsp fresh oregano or marjoram leaves, chopped
- 10 fresh basil leaves, torn
- 1 handful rocket leaves
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Slice off the top quarter of the loaf to use as a lid. Using your fingers, hollow out the inside of the rest of the bread to leave just a shell.
Sprinkle the inside of the bread shell and the lid with the garlic, then brush with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
Layer the onion, tomatoes, cucumber, tuna, anchovies, eggs, olives, oregano, basil and rocket into the bread shell, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go (the order does not really matter). Mix the remaining olive oil with the vinegar and mustard in a small bowl and then drizzle this dressing into the bread shell so it trickles down over the filling. Top with the bread lid and wrap the loaf tightly in kitchen foil.
Place in a baking tin and weigh down with a heavy pan or a four pack of tinned tomatoes or similar. Leave in the fridge overnight. Cut into wedges and serve.
