Salad niçoise

SERVES 2 AS A MAIN

2 eggs

6–8 small (4 cm/1½ inch long) kipfler (fingerling) potatoes, peeled

150 g (5½ oz) green beans

about 10 nice soft cos (romaine) lettuce leaves from the heart of the lettuce

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 teaspoons salted capers, drained and rinsed

8–10 anchovy fillets

16 kalamata olives

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra, for pan-frying

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tuna steaks or 4 nannygai fillets, without skin

To cook the eggs, put them in a saucepan and add enough cold water to cover. Put on the stove over high heat. As soon as the water comes to the boil set your timer for 4 minutes — this will give you a soft-boiled, runny egg. When the timer goes off remove the eggs and refresh several times in cold water to stop the cooking process and then peel straight away.

Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil, then cook for 3 minutes or until almost soft, then add the beans and cook for a further 3 minutes, or until the beans and potatoes are tender. Drain and cool under slightly running water.

Assemble the salad in a bowl. You can tear the lettuce into large pieces or leave it whole depending on the size of the leaves and your preference — I do a bit of both. Place the lettuce in a bowl with the halved tomatoes, capers, anchovies and olives along with the still-warm potatoes (halved or whole) and the still warm beans — the residual warmth will help meld all the beautiful flavours together.

Whisk the olive oil and vinegar together for the dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad. Get your hands in the bowl and give it all a good but gentle toss to combine all the ingredients. Again the warmth of the beans and potato really helps release the oil from the anchovy allowing it to melt and combine with the dressing.

Generously season the fish with freshly ground black pepper and a little salt if you want but remember as you have anchovies, olives and capers in the dressing you already have a fair bit of salt. Cook the fish in a hot frying pan or on the barbecue with a splash of olive oil. You should only need to turn the pieces once. If you are using tuna, it should be rare in the middle.

Carefully arrange half the salad on the plate, place 1 sliced tuna steak or 2 nannygai fillets sliced over one side of the salad, then carefully cut the egg in half, place it on top of the salad and allow the yolk to drip out. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Nannygai is a white-fleshed fish native to southern waters of Australia. It is also called bright redfish, red fish and red snapper.