Niçoise Salad

The most time consuming part of prepping the niçoise is the eggs. Boil a kettle or fill and a pan of water and bring to the boil. Carefully lower all eggs in, keep the lid off and set a timer for 8 minutes. This will give you slightly jammy eggs that add a lovely velvety texture to the salad.

Whilst the eggs are on, gather everything else and start chopping. Lettuce, tomatoes, olives, spring onions – make sure there’s nothing too big, but no need to be too precise.

Cut the ends off the beans and add to the eggs when there’s 3 minutes left on the timer (or put it on for 5 minutes originally and then 3 more, whatever works). If you forget, no worries, pop them in once you take the eggs out.

Once cooked put the eggs in ice cold water to stop them cooking and make them cool enough to handle. Peel and cut into halves or quarters.

The assembly. Do this however you prefer. I quite like layering lettuce and leaves at the bottom and then grouping ingredients together around the outside so everyone can take a little of each, but feel free to throw everything in together. The tuna goes on last, the slightly flaked star of the show.

Add a generous helping of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to a jug, jam jar or bottle and whisk/shake to combine thoroughly. You want about 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. Slug over the salad, or add once served if you think there might be leftovers – there’s nothing worse than trying to revive a soggy salad the next day.