Pan Bagnat
A Niçoise pressed sandwich built on garlic-rubbed rolls soaked in grated ripe tomato, layered with jammy eggs, flaked tuna, anchovies, and a bright medley of summer vegetables and olives.
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ pound (340 g) fresh fava bean pods, optional
- 1¼ pounds (570 g) very ripe summer tomatoes, divided
- Kosher or sea salt
- 1 medium green Cubanelle pepper or green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and very thinly sliced crosswise into ⅛-inch-thick rings
- 1 whole marinated artichoke heart (about 2 ounces; 57 g), sliced into ¼-inch-thick wedges, optional
- 1 French breakfast radish, very thinly sliced crosswise, optional
- ½ cup pitted Niçoise olives (1 ounce; 30 g), halved lengthwise
- 2 scallions, white and light green parts sliced very thinly on the bias
- About 8 fresh basil leaves, roughly torn by hand
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Red wine vinegar, for drizzling, optional
- 2 medium cloves garlic, lightly smashed with the broad side of a knife
- 4 sandwich rolls (about 4.5 inches wide)
- 1 (5-ounce; 142 g) can tuna, preferably ventresca, drained and flaked
- 8 oil-packed anchovy fillets, optional
- Freshly ground black pepper, if desired
- Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot and prepare an ice bath alongside it. Carefully lower the eggs into the boiling water and continue boiling for 30 seconds, then cover the pot tightly, reduce the heat to low so the water holds at a bare simmer, and continue cooking for 9 minutes for jammy yolks or 11 minutes for fully hard-cooked yolks. Immediately transfer the eggs to the ice water and let them cool for at least 15 minutes before peeling under cool running water. Quarter the eggs lengthwise and set aside.
- If using fava beans, split open the pods and pop out the individual beans, discarding the pods. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil and prepare another ice bath. Add the fava beans and cook until just tender, about 2 minutes, then transfer them to the ice bath to chill for 1 minute. Carefully peel off and discard the tough outer skin from each bean, revealing the bright green interior beneath.
- Core and slice ¾ pound of the tomatoes into ¼-inch-thick wedges and set them aside for layering later. Split the remaining ½ pound of tomatoes in half horizontally. Set a box grater into a large bowl, then rub the cut faces of the split tomatoes against the large holes of the grater, using the flat of your palm to move the tomato back and forth — the flesh grates away into the bowl while the skin stays intact in your hand. Discard the skins and season the grated tomato pulp with salt to taste.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the fava beans (if using), sliced green pepper, artichoke heart (if using), radish (if using), olives, scallions, and torn basil leaves. Drizzle generously with olive oil, season with salt to taste, and toss everything together until evenly coated — a light splash of red wine vinegar here is optional but adds a welcome brightness to the mix.
- Split the rolls in half horizontally and use your fingers to scoop out and discard some of the soft, tender crumb from both the top and bottom halves, creating a little extra room for the filling. Rub the smashed garlic cloves all over the cut sides of both halves of each roll to infuse them with garlic flavor, then discard the spent garlic. Spoon the grated tomato pulp generously over the cut sides of the rolls and drizzle with a little more olive oil — you likely won't need to use all of the grated tomato.
- Lightly season the sliced tomatoes with salt, then layer them onto the bottom halves of the rolls along with the quartered eggs, flaked tuna, anchovy fillets (if using), and the dressed vegetable mixture. Drizzle generously with more olive oil and finish with black pepper if desired. Close up the sandwiches, wrap each one tightly in parchment, foil, or a reusable wrapper, and let them stand for at least 20 minutes, or up to 1 hour, before serving — this resting time is essential, allowing the bread to soak up all those flavorful juices.
Chef's Note: Pan bagnat translates roughly to "bathed bread," and that name is the entire point of the sandwich — unlike most sandwiches built to avoid sogginess, this one is deliberately soaked, with the grated tomato and a generous hand with olive oil meant to saturate the bread until it's almost as much a part of the filling as the vegetables themselves. Scooping out some of the crumb before assembling isn't optional housekeeping; it makes room for that soaking to happen without the sandwich falling apart.
This is a sandwich that genuinely improves with patience — the standing time lets everything meld, so resist the urge to eat it the moment it's wrapped. Quality matters enormously here, since there's nowhere to hide a mediocre ingredient: seek out the ripest tomatoes you can find, good oil-packed tuna (ventresca, the fatty belly cut, if you can get it), and proper Niçoise olives rather than substitutes. Fava beans, artichoke, radish, and anchovies are all genuinely optional — build the sandwich around what's good at the market that day.
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