The salade niçoise is a traditional culinary specialty hailing from the French city of Nice. It is one of the main appetizers of Provençal and Mediterranean cuisines, or even a meal in its own right.

This classic salad is traditionally made of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, Niçoise olives, anchovies, and dressed with olive oil.

Freshly cooked or canned tuna may be used, but we love the juicy white fillets of Bonito tuna. The salad may include raw red peppers, shallots, artichoke hearts and other seasonal vegetables such as green beans and potatoes.

Here is our version of this classic recipe:

Ingredients:

Vinaigrette

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

1 small shallot

1 tsp Dijon mustard

100ml olive oil

fresh herbs

ground pepper

Salad

2 eggs

200g potatoes

80g piquillo pepper slices

50g chopped artichoke hearts

80g radishes

100g French beans

8 cherry tomatoes

8 anchovy fillets

50g cucumber

200g Bonito tuna

2 baby gem lettuce

Preparation:

For the vinaigrette, finely chop the shallot and marinate in salt and vinegar for a few minutes before adding the Dijon mustard and once worked into a smooth paste start pouring in the olive oil little by little. Mix slowly until you have your preferred consistency – the more you work this mixture the more of a mayonnaise consistency you get. Now it’s time to taste and add salt and freshly ground pepper. To finish of add some chopped fine fresh herbs; chives, chervil or parsley are all good. Set aside.

For the salad, set a small pan of water on to boil and cook the eggs for 8 minutes until hard boiled. Cool the eggs and chop.

Boil the potatoes until just cooked. Refresh under cold water. When cold, slice into small pieces.

Line the beans up and cut off the stalks, and boil until just tender. Remove and plunge into iced water to cool.

While your vegetables and eggs are cooking, separate baby gem lettuce into leaves and finely slice the radishes. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and chop the cucumber in small and fine pieces.

Place the lettuce on the plates. Top with a mixture of the tomatoes, piquillo peppers, radishes, artichokes, cucumber and egg. Place the tuna on top of the mixture then top the tuna with a handful of french beans wrapped in two anchovy fillets. Dress the salad with about 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette.

Serve and enjoy!