Ingredients
300g French beans, topped but not tailed
12 quail’s eggs (or 4-5 hen’s eggs)
small bag mixed salad leaves
450g waxy new potatoes, cooked
½ red onion, very thinly sliced
250g cherry or baby plum tomatoes, halved
12-15 black olives, stoned
8 anchovy fillets, snipped into slivers
2 tbsp cracked black pepper
2 x 225g tuna steaks
olive oil, for frying
1 tsp tapenade
For the dressing
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
7 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp freshly chopped tarragon
Method
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Cook the beans in boiling salted water until just tender. Drain, cool under cold water and dry well on kitchen paper.
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Bring the quail’s eggs to the boil in a pan of water and cook for 2 mins, or 7 mins if you’re using hen’s eggs. Drain and cool under cold running water and peel, then submerge in a bowl of cold water. Mix the dressing ingredients together with some seasoning.
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Scatter the salad leaves over a platter, tearing any larger ones, and add the beans. Cut the potatoes lengthways into three and halve the eggs. Arrange the potatoes over the beans, followed by the red onion, tomatoes and the eggs. Dot around the olives and anchovies.
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Heat a frying or griddle pan until very hot. Spread the cracked pepper onto a plate; rub a little salt into the tuna steaks, then press into the pepper to coat. (Alternatively, grind over some black pepper.) Rub with a little olive oil and sear for about 30 seconds on each side. Slice diagonally and arrange over the salad.
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Spoon over the dressing. Mix the tapenade to a sauce consistency with some olive oil and drizzle over the salad.
