If salade niçoise were sentient, rather than a salad, it would sue for defamation of character, such are the abuses heaped upon it in the name of culinary innovation. Indeed, one of Nice’s most notorious sons, former mayor Jacques Médecin, wrote of the trauma of seeing ‘the remains of other people’s meals being served under the name salade niçoise’. I think he’d approve of this one, though.
Prep 5 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 2
2 eggs
500g broad bean pods, or 50g french beans
4 ripe tomatoes
¼ cucumber
2 spring onions
½ red pepper
50g small black olives
1 tbsp capers
4 anchovies
A few basil leaves
For the dressing
1 small garlic clove
1 pinch coarse salt
2 anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped
1 small handful basil leaves, torn
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ tbsp red-wine vinegar
Ground black pepper
1 Boil the eggs
Put the eggs into a pan just large enough to hold them comfortably and cover with cold water. Bring slowly to a boil over a medium heat, then turn down the heat slightly and simmer gently for seven and a half minutes. Drain the water from the eggs and put them in cold water to stop them cooking further.
2 Prepare the beans …
Pop the broad beans from their pods, then peel off their papery skins (unless they’re very young, in which case you can leave them on). If you’d prefer to use French beans instead, bring a pan of salted water to a boil, simmer them for a couple of minutes until just tender, then decant into a sink of cold water to stop them cooking. Dry before use.
3 … and then the tomatoes
Put the tomatoes in a pan of boiling water for 30 seconds, then scoop out and, once cool enough to handle, gently peel off their skins – if they haven’t split in the heat, use your fingernail or the tip of a small, sharp knife to help tease off enough to get started. Cut in half, scoop out and discard the seeds, then cut the flesh into thick slices.
4 Now for the cucumber, onion and pepper
Peel the cucumber (I like to do this in stripes, but then I like stripes on everything), cut it in half lengthways, then scoop out and discard the seeds. Cut the cucumber into chunky half-moons. Finely chop the spring onions. Deseed the pepper and cut it into fairly thin strips.
5 Make the dressing
Put the peeled garlic clove into a mortar with a pinch of coarse salt, then mash to a paste. Add the anchovies – if they’ve been packed in salt, rather than oil, you’ll need to give them a quick rinse first – and mash them, followed by the basil. Finally, incorporate the vinegar and then the olive oil until well emulsified. Season to taste.
6 Start building the salad
Toss the beans, sliced tomatoes, cucumber, spring onion and red pepper in a large bowl with two-thirds of the dressing, until everything is thoroughly coated. Using your hands, lift out the dressed salad and arrange on a serving plate.
7 Add the eggs, capers, olives and anchovies
Gently knock the blunt end of each egg against a hard surface until it cracks, then peel. Cut the eggs into quarters and season lightly. Arrange these on top of the salad. Pit the olives, if you like, and rinse the salt off the capers and anchovies, if need be. Cut the anchovies into slivers. Scatter the olives, capers and anchovies all over the salad.
8 The finishing touches
Spoon the rest of the dressing on top of the salad, then strew the basil leaves on top just before serving. Eat with some good baguette to mop up all of those delicious juices. Note: the salad itself can be made a few hours in advance, and left to let the ingredients mingle, but don’t add the basil until the last minute.
9 Alternatives
If you’d like to add tuna, as is often used in Provence, leave out the anchovies from the salad itself, if not the dressing (though you can eschew them altogether, if you prefer) – a small tin, drained and flaked over the top, is quite sufficient. Boiled waxy potatoes, a popular addition in the UK, are not authentic, nor required, but if you must, I won’t tell.
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