Salade Niçoise
Salad from Nice with raw baby artichokes, tomato, tuna, and anchovy in olive oil — no vinegar, since the salted tomatoes provide their own acidity.
The eggs are boiled and cooled while the tomatoes are salted and left to drain; meanwhile the raw vegetables and paper-thin artichoke slices are prepped. The salad is gently assembled with oil before the tuna, eggs, and anchovies go on top at the end. How well the tomatoes drain determines whether the salad stays fresh and juicy rather than watery.
Ingredients
The vegetables
- 6 pcs ripe tomatoes
- 1 pcs cucumber
- 1 pcs green bell pepper
- 4 pcs scallions
- 4 pcs small purple artichokes
- 100 g small black Niçoise olives, with pits
Fish and eggs
- 400 g tuna in olive oil, drained
- 8 pcs anchovy fillets, in oil
- 4 eggs
For the dressing
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 dl olive oil, extra virgin
- 1 handful fresh basil leaves
- salt
- black pepper, freshly ground
How to make it
- Put the eggs in a pot, cover them with cold water, and bring it to a boil. Boil them for a total of 15 minutes from a cold pot, until the yolk is set and an even pale yellow all the way through. ⏱ 15 min · passive
- Cool the eggs in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes so the shell releases cleanly. ⏱ 5 min · passive
- Peel the cooled eggs and cut each egg lengthwise into four wedges with a wet knife, so the yolk stays whole and doesn't crumble. Set the wedges aside.
- Cut the tomatoes into rough wedges and place them in a colander. Sprinkle them with a good pinch of salt.
- Let the tomatoes drain for 10 minutes, until a small pool of juice collects under the colander. This keeps the salad from becoming watery when it's tossed. ⏱ 10 min · passive
- Snap off the tough outer leaves of the artichokes and cut away the pointed tips. Cut the artichokes into paper-thin slices and toss them immediately in 1 tbsp of the olive oil, so the cut surfaces stay pale green instead of turning brown.Chef's tip Cut artichoke browns on contact with air; oil coats the surfaces and slows it. Work quickly, slice one at a time and toss as you go — pale green edges turning tan means you're going too slowly.
- Peel the cucumber and cut it into thin slices. Cut the bell pepper into fine rings and the scallions into diagonal slices, thin enough to be eaten raw.
- Cut the garlic clove in half and rub the inside of a large salad bowl thoroughly with the cut side, until the bowl smells distinctly of garlic. Discard the clove — the garlic should only lend fragrance, not bite.
- Put the drained tomato wedges, cucumber slices, bell pepper rings, scallion slices, and the oil-tossed artichoke slices into the garlic-rubbed bowl. Sprinkle the olives over the top.
- Pour the remaining olive oil over and gently toss the salad with two spoons, until every piece glistens. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper, and tear the basil leaves over the top. The salad never gets vinegar, since the salted tomatoes provide their own acidity.Chef's tip The tomatoes are already salted, and the anchovies salt heavily from above. So season with less than half your usual hand, and let an extra turn of the mill wait until the table — you can always add it, but you can never take it back.
- Scatter the tuna in rough flakes over the salad without folding it in, so the flakes stay whole and distinct.
- Place the egg wedges and anchovy fillets on top. Set the bowl in the middle of the table while the salad is still at room temperature, and let everyone serve themselves from the bowl, putting together their own plate with a bit of everything.Chef's tip Cold blunts both the olive oil's aroma and the tomatoes' sweetness. If the salad has been chilling, give it 20 minutes on the counter — the oil should look fluid and clear, never cloudy.
