I don’t know why the end of summer is always the hottest, but August has been killer here in Southern California. As a result, I’ve been eating more and more meals outside in the evening under the shade of the oak tree in my backyard. I think our apartment has become more of a human oven than a structure for people to live in semi-comfortably. The sun beats down on it all day long and I only have an AC unit in the living room, which means the rest of the place is miserable. Soooo I’ve been escaping outside as soon as the sun goes down to catch a bit of shade. Something about eating outside always makes me want sandwiches, but I wanted to make something light and cold because of the intense heat, and I wanted it so be a semi-fancy sandwich since I was having my friends Beejoli and Sanjana over, so I ended up going with the traditional sandwich of Southern France, (a very warm place indeed). Pan Bagnat is a seafood sandwich comprised of tuna and anchovies, but it’s loaded with cool crisp summer vegetables and a few thin slices of hard boiled eggs. I made some roasted garlic mayonnaise (not the best thing to do to keep my place cool, I know, but SO delish that it’s entirely worth it) to slather on the bread, too. And I managed to cut the sandwiches just so even though my bread knife is dull as as heck. Huzzah!! It ended up being the perfect simple and soothing meal for a balmy evening. Light, but filling, and nice and cool.
Pan Bagnat (Tuna Nicoise Sandwich)
Ingredients
- 2 Loaves French Bread
- 1 Small Can Anchovies packed in olive oil
- 4 5.5 Ounce Cans Tuna, drained
- 6 Leaves Lettuce
- 2 Medium Tomatoes sliced
- 3 Hard Boiled Eggs sliced
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 1/4 Cup Mayoinnaise
- 1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- 1/3 Cup Yellow Onion Diced
- 1/4 Cup Red Onion Diced
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil plus 1 Tablespoon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Fresh Thyme Leaves
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the tuna, 1/4 cup of the olive oil, onions, salt, pepper, fresh thyme, and Dijon mustard together in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Meanwhile, cut the top 1/4 off the garlic clove, place it on a piece of tin foil, drizzle it with olive oil, wrap it in the foil, place it on a baking sheet and roast it in the oven for 1 hour. Then remove it from the oven and allow to cool before squeezing the garlic pulp out of the clove into a small bowl. Mix the garlic with the mayonnaise, then cover and refrigerate it until use.
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Cut the bread into thirds. Scoop the soft bread out of the centers of the bread pieces and then cut them in half horizontally, then lay them down insides facing up. Spread the roasted garlic mayonnaise onto the insides of the sandwiches. Spread the desires amount of the tuna on the bottom half, then layer a lettuce leaf, a few anchovy slices, several hard boiled egg slices, and two tomato slices. Place the top half of the sandwich over the fillings, encompassing them in a bread dome. Serve immediately.
Looks so good. I would love that sandwich!
Thanks Carol!
I always love tuna and am especially in love with the idea of putting hardboiled egg on the sandwich. This is beautiful!
Sues
Thank you s much Sues! 🙂
what a wonderful recipe! i'll try it soon 🙂 kisses!
Thanks Claudia!
Love the composition and styling of these photos!
That looks delicious! I think I would leave out the anchovies since they scare me a bit, but other than that I am sold 🙂 You have a great looking site, I am glad I saw it on the top 9 today!
This looks amazing!!! A must-try recipe for labor day, so glad I saw this on the daily buzz!
Looks totally ahhh-mazingly yummified. I will be making this. Thank you for sharing. <3
Beautiful pictures and it looks tasty reminds me of this sandwich http://www.chefmorgan.com/pan-bagnat-au-cadeau
Lovely images, perfect lighting and styling as everyone else said here but I thought so too! Also, a great way to spruce up a sandwich..very nice indeed and tuna makes it quite healthy.
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