A fantastic summer dish! I couldn't have this when I was prepping for a competition, but now I am able to and it is oh so wonderful!
The best anchovies are those you get packed in salt. We use quite a bit, so we buy the big round tin imported from Italy, it lasts for months in the refrigerator.
Remove a couple whole anchovies from the salt and rinse in cool water, then soak to remove all the salt and to soften them.
Boil a couple eggs to your preference, we like our yolks still soft.
Thickly slice some heirloom tomatoes and lay on plates. Slice cucumber and lay on top of the tomatoes.
Dice up green bell pepper and french breakfast radishes and scatter over the top.
Lay tuna chunks on top, we prefer the long loins packed in oil, but if you are really watching your fats, feel free to use tuna packed in water.
Separate the anchovies into fillets, then lay on top, add the halved or quartered eggs.
Finely chop fresh chives and sprinkle all over, top with a few nicoise olives, then freshly grated pepper and a drizzle of fruity olive oil.
Serve with crusty french bread.
Yummy! I'll make it tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteI made it today. What a refreshingly simple and light dish! You know we have very good anchovies here in Catalonia. We had problems with the eggs, though. Since I rarely eat boiled eggs I asked Carlos and our guest Manolo how many minutes for an egg where the yolk would be just a tad soft still, and they said "cuatro minutos, o cuatro minutos y quince segundos". So I left it for four minutes and fifteen seconds and not even the white was completely cooked through! Yuck. Maybe because they were cold from the refrigerator. So I cooked them for eight minutes and they were just right."French breakfast radishes" are just "rabanitos" here, or "ravanets" in Catalan, since they are quite common. Our tuna was just your basic tuna from a can in olive oil, since that is pretty good quality here as well. Chives (cebollino in Spanish, cibulet in Catalan) are not easy to find here -- they are not used much at all in the local cuisine, despite their extreme popularity in neighboring France, but I did eventually find some. And voilà, salade Niçoise! I served it with plain polenta on which we put some canned Mexican salsa. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteTonight we are going to go see Toy Story 3 in 3D.
Hi Dude, You can always use the green part of a green onion instead of chives. Or shallots I guess.
ReplyDeleteI laughed about the eggs. I told David that surely Carlos and his cousin said it with that air of Spanish authority that you of course, believed them. They probably made it up completely and had no idea how long to cook them
Well, funnily enough, green onions are only available in specialty Asian markets. And shallots are just as hard to find as chives (despite how common shallots are in France). What's easy to find here are what in Catalan are called "ceba tendra" and in Spanish "cebolleta". Can you find out for me what it is called in English?
ReplyDeleteI looked online and they appear to be green onions to me! Some may have a small white bulb at the end, but I think they are what you want- spring onions.
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