Pan-bagnat

The niçoise salad shut inside a loaf and pressed under a weight for two hours, which is the entire recipe.

Fish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 4 round crusty rolls, or 1 large round loaf
• the filling from the salade niçoise, as on its own page, undressed
• 2 cloves garlic, halved
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• a few basil leaves
• salt and pepper

Method

1. THE LOAF IS PRESSED UNDER A WEIGHT FOR TWO HOURS, and that is the entire recipe. Everything else is on the salade niçoise page. What the pressing does is force the oil and the tomato juices into the crumb so the bread becomes part of the filling rather than a container for it -- the name says bathed bread, and unpressed it is simply a sandwich with salad in it. Two hours minimum; four is better.
2. SO IT IS MADE IN ADVANCE ON PURPOSE. This is the one thing on this site that is actively worse freshly made. It is built in the morning and eaten at lunch.
3. THE CRUMB IS PULLED OUT OF THE LID, not the base. A hollowed top half takes the filling without the sandwich becoming too tall to press evenly; a hollowed base just lets the oil run out of the bottom.
4. NOTHING COOKED GOES IN, for the same reason as the salad page -- and no cooked potato especially, which turns to paste under two hours of pressure.
5. AND THE TOMATOES ARE SALTED AND DRAINED FIRST, as on that page. Here it matters even more: their water under a weight for two hours will reduce the bread to pulp.
6. The filling prepared as on the salade niçoise page -- tomatoes salted and drained, onion soaked, tuna in large chunks -- but NOT dressed.
7. The rolls cut in half horizontally.
8. Some crumb pulled out of the TOP half of each to make a hollow.
9. Both cut faces rubbed hard with the cut garlic.
10. The oil and vinegar whisked with salt and pepper, and both cut faces brushed generously -- more than seems reasonable, because the bread is going to drink it.
11. The filling layered into the base: tomato first, then cucumber and pepper, then tuna, then anchovy, egg and olives, with basil through it.
12. The remaining dressing spooned over the filling.
13. The lid pressed on firmly.
14. Each one wrapped TIGHTLY in cling film or greaseproof and put on a plate with a board and a weight -- a few tins -- on top.
15. PRESSED 2 HOURS at cool room temperature, or up to 4 in the fridge. Unwrapped and cut in half to eat; it will have flattened to about two thirds of its height.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under France · All recipes