Tuna Niçoise with Soft-Boiled Egg & Green Beans

Ingredients

• salt and black pepper
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 fresh tuna steaks, about 160g each
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 150 g green beans, trimmed
• 200 g new potatoes, halved
• 100 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 80 g mixed salad leaves or romaine
• 60 g pitted black olives
• 4 anchovy fillets
• crusty baguette, to serve
• sourdough bread, thickly sliced, to serve

Method

1. Salt the potato water generously — it should taste like the sea. Simmer the halved new potatoes for 12 minutes, until a knife slips through with no resistance. Drop the green beans in for the final 3 minutes — pull them while they're still bright green with a snap, not khaki and floppy. Drain and spread out to cool.
2. Lower the eggs straight from the fridge into a separate pan of boiling water and set a timer for exactly 6 minutes — set white, jammy amber yolk. Transfer immediately to a bowl of iced water and leave for 2 minutes. The cold shock stops the yolk cooking on and makes them peel cleanly.
3. Whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon and crushed garlic in a small bowl until glossy and emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, then taste — it should be sharp enough to make you blink. The raw garlic is potent here, so use it the moment it's whisked; don't let it sit and turn fierce.
4. Pat the tuna steaks bone-dry with kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no crust. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Get a heavy stainless or cast-iron pan over the highest heat with the olive oil until it's shimmering and just starting to wisp smoke. One steak at a time if your pan is small — don't crowd them, or they'll poach in their own juices instead of searing. 60–90 seconds a side for a deep mahogany crust and a ruby, almost-raw centre. Lift onto a board to rest for a minute.
5. While the tuna rests, toss the warm potatoes and beans through half the dressing so they drink it up while still hot — cold potatoes shrug dressing off. Taste, season, taste again; adjust the salt now, not at the table. Layer the salad leaves across two plates, scatter the dressed potatoes and beans over, then the cherry tomatoes, olives and anchovies.
6. Slice the tuna thickly against the grain and lay it over the salad with the egg halves, yolks facing up. Spoon the remaining dressing across everything and finish with a final squeeze of lemon or extra splash of vinegar if it needs lifting. Tear the baguette and the sourdough straight onto the table for mopping — the mustardy dressing pooling under the tuna is the best bit.