Niçoise Tuna with Tender Boiled Eggs
Donal's Notes
Olives cured with the stone inside have so much more favour that the often rather sad pitted black olives. A good tip to make stoning them easy is to push lightly on each olive with your thumb; you will feel the stone loosen inside the olive, you can then tear it open and remove the stone.
For French mustard dressing:
Small whisk
Microplane
Saucepan with lid
Slotted spoon
Chopping board
Chopping knife
Instructions
1
Prepare the dressing in a bowl by adding the olive oil, white wine vinegar and dijon mustard. Grate in the garlic, season generously with salt and pepper and whisk until combined. Set aside.
2
Prepare the salad veg by chopping the tops and tails from the green beans. Separate the leaves from the baby gem and give them a wash under cold running water.
3
Slice the radishes and halve the cherry tomatoes.
4
Place the potatoes in a medium pot and fill with cold water. Add 1-2 tablespoons of salt and place over a high heat until the water boils. Lower the heat to a steady simmer and cook for 12-13 minutes or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Using a slotted spoon, drain the potatoes from the water and place on a plate to cool. Keep this pot of water for blanching the green beans.
5
While the potatoes are cooking, using a slotted spoon lower the eggs into another pot of boiling water and cook for 6 minutes. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and plunge them in a bowl of ice water.
6
Once cooled for 3-4 minutes, carefully peel the eggs and slice in half. They’re easier to peel if they’re not completely cold.
7
Bring the pot of water that the potatoes cooked in back to the boil and add the green beans. Cook for 3 minutes before refreshing in a bowl of ice water. Once cooled, drain completely.
8
Once the potatoes have cooled completely, slice them in half.
9
Arrange the baby gem and watercress leaves across a large serving platter, top with the green beans, olives, tomatoes, radishes and potatoes.
10
Break the tuna into large pieces and arrange in the centre of the platter. Place the egg on top. Scatter over the capers and drizzle generously with the prepared dressing.
