The longer pan bagnat sits, the tastier it gets. I make a whole baguette, even for just myself. In less than 24 hours, after a late night trip or two to the fridge, I can finish the whole loaf off! Also, This recipe is picnic-perfect! One last tip: wrap the sandwich in wax paper, peeling it back as you eat the bagnat. The wrapping over the end of each sandwich will catch the juices as you eat it.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 10 min |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 French baguette
- 1 six to eight-ounce tuna steak
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 whole peppercorns
- Juice of 1 lemon (See Cook’s Note)
- 3 tablespoons capers, drained
- 1/4 red onion, chopped
- 1 can artichoke hearts in water, 15 ounces, drained, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup good quality black olives, from bulk bins in deli area of market
- 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, a couple of handfuls
- Coarse black pepper, to your taste
- 2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, to your taste
Instructions
- Crisp baguette in hot oven, then cool to handle. Cut baguette in half lengthwise, on an angle, then split each half lengthwise.
- Put about 1 inch of water, the bay leaf, peppercorns, and juice of 1/2 the lemon into a small skillet and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the tuna steak, cover, and simmer until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove tuna from the water and allow to cool. Place tuna in a bowl and separate with a fork. Add capers, red onion, artichokes.
- For olives, if they’re pitted, coarsely chop them. If the olives have pits, place an olive or 2 on your cutting board. Turn your knife sideways and place the flat of the blade on top of the olives — just like peeling garlic — whack the heal of your hand on knife and the pits of the olives will be exposed. Remove pits and chop.
- Add olives and parsley to tuna mixture. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the bowl. Squeeze lemon halves holding cut side upright, allowing juice to spill over sides. The seeds will stay with the lemon half, rather than falling into your salad. Add black pepper to the bowl and drizzle salad liberally with evoo, extra virgin olive oil. Toss tuna salad and adjust pepper and evoo to your taste. Pack the tuna salad on to baguette halves and set tops in place. Press down to set the bread and salad together. The bread will absorb the evoo and salad juices — YUMMY! Cut each half baguette in half again, making 4 sandwiches, total.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 374 |
| Total Fat | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 44 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Protein | 21 g |
| Cholesterol | 19 mg |
| Sodium | 786 mg |
Reviews
The taste in this sandwich does not justify the cost of the ingredients. I made this for a luncheon & it was just blah-and if I’m going to shell out top dollar for good quality ingredients, I want something amazing at the end of the meal. This just wasn’t it at all.
This is the BEST tuna salad for sandwiches ever. I’ll NEVER go back to mayo again! Awesome……………….
This is good on the baguette, on crackers, or with a spoon! I do add extra capers to mine as I can’t stop eating them.
I think this recipe is on one of Rachael’s old cook books and calls for canned tuna in oil – which is also very good, but using fresh fish really makes it fantastic! I was amazed at how far one tuna steak could go once mixed with all the other ingredients. I make this and keep the mixture in a tupperware container, then use it all week to make sandwiches for work. I make them on a whole wheat ciabatta rather than the baguette. Very yummy and healthy!!!
one of the best recipe’s i’ve found on food network, and so sosoosooooo easy! i even made it before without the tuna for my vegetarian sister and she loved it. definitely perfect for picnics! honestly a crowd favorite. 🙂 thanks rachael
While making plans to take the boyfriend on a picnic, I was perusing through recipes to find something special and “picnicable” yet not your basic sandwich. This was perfect! There are so many flavors that each bite tasted slightly different than the last. I will definitely be making this again and again. I used a kalamata tapenade in lieu of the chopped olives. I’m going to try throwing in some feta next time.
Everyone just loves this recipe. I have made it many times and even those that say they do not like tuna, just love it.
Great way to eat tuna and artichokes, especially for people who don’t like these ingredients.
Interesting taste, but not bad, Don’t know if I’ll make it again, but I gave it a 4 starts since it was easy to make and it tasted good. Thanks Rachel! 😀
This is far and away my favorite tuna recipe. I’ve made it with canned tuna, but the fresh tuna is truly spectacular. As Rachel mentioned, this sandwich gets better the longer it sits… so make plenty!