Salade Nicoise with fresh tuna

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 romaine lettuce hearts, the leaves of which
• 4 large potatoes, each cut into eight pieces
• 200 g green beans
• 8 small tomatoes, halved
• 2 bell peppers, skinned, red or yellow
• 1 handful of pitted black olives
• 4 egg(s), hard-boiled, quartered
• 1 dash of vinegar if the eggs are poached
• 16 anchovies, in oil, not in salt
• 1 tuna steak(s), fresh
• 1 tbsp olive oil, for the tuna
• Allspice d’Espelette
• Fleur de Sel
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp wine vinegar, white or red
• ½ lemon(s), the juice
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper
• 50 g sea salt butter
• 50 ml olive oil, French or Ligurian
• ½ garlic clove(s), finely chopped
• 50 g anchovies, very finely chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Allspice d’Espelette

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

Nice Salad

For the anchovy paste, melt the butter, gently sauté the garlic and anchovy pieces, add the oil, lemon juice, and Espelette pepper to taste, mix well, and then cool in a small bowl. Allow to cool and solidify again. Set aside. For the vinaigrette, combine all the ingredients and divide between two large bowls. Cook the potatoes and beans until tender, refresh in cold water, and halve the beans. Finely slice and halve the peppers. Once cooled, add them to the vinaigrette with the potatoes and beans and the tomatoes. In the other bowl, mix the romaine lettuce leaves. Arrange these lettuce leaves piece by piece on plates or a large serving platter, surrounding the outside. Distribute the potatoes, beans, and tomatoes over the lettuce, leaving some space in the center of the plates or platter for the tuna to be placed later. Now arrange the olives and hard-boiled eggs, or, if you prefer, poach the raw eggs in salted water with a little vinegar for 4 minutes until soft-boiled, then place one on each plate. Everything should be done very quickly after this so that the eggs are still warm when served. If using hard-boiled eggs, place an anchovy on top of each one. If using poached eggs, scatter the anchovies elsewhere in the salad. Place a quarter of the anchovy on the side or in the middle of each plate as a dip. Finally, sprinkle the tuna with piment d’Espelette and fry in a little olive oil over high heat for 30 seconds on each side. Season with fleur de sel, then cut into 2 cm cubes and arrange as described above. Serve immediately.