A Pan Bagnat is essentially a Nicois salad in sandwich form. Nice was one of the last parts of the country to join France and has only been part of France for 160 years. Perhaps why this sandwich has retained its local (Nissart) dialect spelling, which means ‘bathed bread’ in English & is a hint at what you’re aiming to achieve with this whopper of a lunch that will transport you straight to the Mediterranean coast.
Ingredients for 1 sandwich:
1x Slightly stale Bara Bakehouse Ciabatta Roll
1 Half tin Shine’s Tuna in olive oil (alternatively sardines in oil)
2 Teaspoons Islander Kelp Tapenade
1x Cavanagh Free Range egg
1x Garlic clove
1x Tomato
Some salad leaves
Method:
As with many salads and sandwiches, there are lots of variations possible (green pepper, radish, red onion, spring onion, rocket, basil leaves) but I’ve kept this straightforward because simple is best and it’s already pretty hefty without all those additional layers.
Essential to a pan bagnat is that the bread is slightly stale. Stale bread will soak up the olive oil and achieve the bathed bread effect that we’re after. Normally this would be done with a wholemeal roll but the ciabatta roll works very nicely here. I leave mine in the bread bin for 1–2 days so it is stale without being rock hard.
Some recipes have tuna, some have anchovies or sardines or a mix of both. Tuna is my personal preference because of the fatty, rich flavour.
Cut the ciabatta roll open and open your tin of tuna. Spoon out the olive oil from the tin on to the open roll on both sides so it is nicely drenched in oil.
Peel the garlic clove and slice in half, rub the garlic clove over the open bread.
Spread the tapenade inside the roll then close, press lightly on top and leave to stand while you hard boil the egg. This will allow the oil to seep more in to the bread. Some people suggest doing this overnight, which probably tastes great but planning my lunch a day ahead is not going to happen.
Tapenade is not traditional in a pan bagnat, instead nicois black olives would be used. However, the Islander Kelp Tapenade is a fantastic addition here and it doesn’t fall out on to your plate!
When your egg is boiled (I’d allow 6 mins), cool it off with cold water, peel and slice in to rounds.
I then layer my salad leaves, slices of tomato, sprinkle of salt/pepper, slices of egg and then added my tuna chunks. I allowed half a tin of tuna per roll.
Give it all another good press and bon appetit! The last few mouthfuls are a delight as everything has mixed together, you will be contemplating whether you should make a second one or book a flight to Nice!
