Pain bagnat

My mother used to prepare this dish for us kids, wrapped in paper and tied with string, whenever we went fishing or mushroom hunting in the forest. The secret to this is overnight refrigeration, which allows the flavours to develop.

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 g cob loaf
• 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
• 200 g green beans, blanched, refreshed
• 4 tomatoes, sliced
• 185 g can tuna in oil, drained
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, roughly chopped
• 8 anchovies in oil, drained

Chilling time overnight

DRINK 2011 Eric Bordelet Sidre Brut Tendre, Normandy, France ($25)

Instructions

Cut loaf in half horizontally, remove some of the bread, then brush cut sides with olive oil.

Arrange beans in an even layer across bottom half of cob. Top with tomatoes, tuna, onion, chopped eggs and anchovies. Season with salt and pepper, then sandwich with remaining cob half.

Tie cob together with kitchen string, wrap in baking paper and refrigerate overnight. The following day, remove baking paper and kitchen string and serve cut into wedges.

Photography by John Reyment. Drinks suggestions  by Dan Coward.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.