2 fresh pieces of Tuna

3 eggs

100g baby leaf salad

150g cherry tomatoes

50g radishes

½ salad cucumber

4 tbspExtra-virgin olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

1 Spring onion or basil leaves

100g green beans (optional)

200g small new potatoes (optional)

Olive Tapenade

3 garlic cloves

50g black olives

5 marinated anchovies

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

½ lemon juice

The classic French (summer) salad.

Start with the olive tapenade. Peel the garlic cloves and add to a mortar and mash with a pestle for a few minutes. Add the fresh or drained black olives and the anchovies and continue to mash until you have a rough paste. Add the olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice. Mix well and set aside.

Boil the eggs for 8min, then place them in iced water. Drain, peel and cut them in half and set aside. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and slice the salad cucumber and radishes.

If you are using green beans and potatoes you need to blanch the green beans in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and tip into ice cold water, drain again and set aside. Boil the potatoes until tender (approx. 15min), drain and set aside. Once cool enough to handle cut them in half.

Sear the tuna in a frying pan over medium to high heat with a little olive oil. Sear for 2 min on each side. Take the tuna out of the pan for resting.

Assemble the salad

Add the baby leaf salad into a bowl, add the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and mix well. Now divide the dressed salad over two serving plates. Arrange the salad that it is more towards to outside, creating an empty circle in the middle. The remaining ingredients should be place all over the plate though. If you have used green beans and potatoes add them now, followed by the tomatoes, cucumber slices and radishes. Divide the egg half’s over the two plates. Before adding the tuna steaks, slice the tuna steaks into thick slices (at an angle) and arrange on top of the salad (so that they are not sitting on a bed of baby leaves.
Put a generous amount of the olive tapenade on each egg half. Cut the spring onion and sprinkle over the salad. Alternatively use basil leaves. To finish sprinkle some extra-virgin olive oil over the tuna and serve.