What is nicoise? Secrets of French Salad Cooking. TOP 5 brightest recipes for nicoise. Video recipes.
Nicoise is a classic of French cuisine. Mystery salad, the exact recipe for which is not available to this day. Rather, this is a direction with a consistent ideology of cooking that has conquered gourmets for more than one generation. The birthplace of such an extraordinary dish is the azure coast of the Bay of Angels, namely Nice. The atmosphere of a world resort has made this salad the epitome of elegance and sophistication. At the same time, all the ingredients are readily available and are combined with maximum benefit, so the dish has gained well-deserved popularity. Applying a small part of your culinary skills, you can please yourself and your loved ones with a small piece of France. In order to help you decide on the most suitable French nicoise, the article contains the most popular recipes.
Features of cooking nicoise
The number of variations of nicoise is simply amazing, but there are still certain cooking rules, without which the dish loses its meaning. In order for it to turn out exactly nicoise, and not Olivier, the culinary specialist needs to know the peculiarities of preparing a salad.
The main list of ingredients that distinguishes French nicoise salad from the rest:
- Anchovies … One of the invariable ingredients in the food. There is anchovy fillet in any variation, because it was this fish product that was generally available in the 18th century, and history suggests that this salad was originally the food of ordinary Mediterranean sailors who inhabited the coast. Not so long ago, tuna was also included in the recipe; they began to add it in addition to anchovy.
- Tomatoes … Fresh or sun-dried tomatoes are also unchanged in this salad. All vegetables are cut into large slices or simply cut in half.
- Eggs … Boiled or in the form of an omelet, chicken or quail, it doesn't matter, because the combination of vegetables with egg white is most useful. In addition, in this version, the dish is more satisfying.
- Olive oil and olives … The combination of oil dressing and olives is considered a classic for the traditional Nicoise.
It so happens that even with full compliance of the ingredients, the salad does not look sophisticated, but on the contrary, it has a completely unpresentable look. In order for each nicoise to always be "on top", use a few simple techniques:
- There are a lot of fresh vegetables and soft foods in the recipe, so while stirring the salad, use two spoons and do it very delicately so as not to damage the appearance of the ingredients.
- It is not necessary to decorate the dish separately, the composition of nicoise is so varied and colorful that excessive zeal can only harm.
- The salad belongs to fresh appetizers, so it is better to cook it in portions and immediately before serving, because with prolonged storage the vegetables will let out juice and lose their appearance.
- Most chefs advise not to chop the greens, but to tear them into large pieces, to preserve all the useful qualities, in the case of this salad, the advice is just perfect, allowing you to preserve not only the beneficial properties of the ingredients and taste, but also the appearance.
The versatility of this dish lies in the fact that you can use the products in all sorts of variations. If it's a fish, it doesn't matter if it is raw, salted or canned. You can boil potatoes, or you can fry, and use dried tomatoes. In any of the options, the result is an amazingly tasty, hearty and simply unforgettable salad.
TOP 5 Nicoise recipes
Tomatoes and potatoes appeared in France much later than the 16th century, so they were not included in the original recipe for the dish, but later they were firmly rooted in the recipe and are now an integral part of it. It will not be superfluous to find out that nicoise is always cut into large slices or even halves of food. Vegetables should be fresh and in season, and a light but piquant filling will make the taste of the salad truly rich.
Nicoise with tuna
This version of the salad is most like the classic one, it contains only raw vegetables and fish. It is also safe to say that this cooking method is the most dietary one. The olive oil and French mustard dressing gives the dish a certain piquancy and sophistication.
See also how to make a salad with Chinese cabbage, peanuts, and French mustard.
- Calorie content per 100 g - 70 kcal.
- Servings - 2
- Cooking time - 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- Fresh tuna fillet - 200 g
- Anchovy fillet - 8 pcs.
- Frozen asparagus beans - 300 g
- Chicken egg - 2 pcs.
- Cherry tomatoes - 6 pcs.
- Medium tomato - 1 pc.
- Pitted olives - 50 g
- Olive oil - 50 g
- Wine vinegar - 1 tablespoon
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Lettuce greens - 3 leaves
- Basil, curly parsley - a couple of sprigs
- A mixture of spices "Provencal herbs" - on the tip of a teaspoon
- Flax seeds - for decoration
Step by step preparation of tuna nicoise:
- First of all, we will bring all the ingredients to readiness, for this you need to boil the eggs and pour cold water to cool. Asparagus can also be boiled a little in salted water.
- Cut the tuna fillet into small 1 cm thick slices and place in a well-heated frying pan. Fry a little on both sides and set aside.
- Put boiled asparagus beans in the same pan, add a couple of drops of olive oil and fry for 5 minutes.
- Cut the tomatoes into large slices into 4 or 6 pieces, just cut the cherry in half.
- Without fail, we prepare the salad dressing, for this we crush and chop the garlic, mix it with oil, vinegar and spices.
- We clean the cooled eggs and cut them in half.
- We start laying out the dish, salad greens, asparagus beans, then tomatoes and eggs, tuna on top, sprinkle everything with olives, basil and parsley on the bottom of the plate. At the very top of our nicoise will be anchovy fillet.
- Before serving, pour over everything with salad dressing and sprinkle with flax.
Nicoise with potatoes
The founder of this nicoise recipe, Jemmy Oliver, positioned the salad as a hearty dinner dish for four. It can be served both cold and warm. A great solution for a family or a festive dinner with a small number of people.
Ingredients:
- Lightly salted red fish fillet - 500 g
- Anchovy fillet - 100 g
- Young potatoes - 0.5 kg
- Fresh young beans - 150 g
- Cherry tomatoes - 12 pcs.
- Sweet red pepper - 2 pcs.
- Tomato - 3 pcs.
- Quail eggs - 8 pcs.
- Olives or pitted olives - 50 g
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Mustard beans - 1 tablespoon
- Olive oil - 50 g
- Vinegar - 1 tablespoon
- Lettuce greens, basil, parsley, cilantro - to taste
Step by step cooking nicoise with potatoes:
- Rinse the potatoes thoroughly, boil and cut into large slices.
- Soak young beans in cold water for 1 hour, and then boil until half cooked.
- Remove the shell from the boiled eggs and cut into halves.
- Cut the fish fillet into small pieces 1 cm wide.
- Separately make a sauce for the salad: in a small container, mix oil and vinegar, add chopped garlic and mustard seeds to them, you can also add your favorite spices.
- Cut the tomatoes in half, the peppers into large pieces.
- Put potatoes, fish fillets, beans and peppers on a plate. Pour all this with dressing and mix thoroughly.
- Decorate the top with eggs, tomatoes, olives, chopped herbs and, of course, anchovies.
Hastily Nicoise
As the name suggests, this simple nicoise recipe can be used to make a salad very quickly. It is perfectly balanced for a quick lunch, and is also perfectly representative for unexpected guests.
Ingredients:
- Canned tuna in oil - 1 pc.
- Anchovy fillet - 4 pcs.
- Sweet Bulgarian pepper - 1 pc.
- Tomato - 1 pc.
- Chicken egg - 1 pc.
- Canned beans - 1/2 can
- Vinegar - 1 tsp
- Garlic - 1 clove
- Mustard beans - 1 tsp
- Lettuce greens and spices to taste
Step-by-step whipping up nicoise:
- Boil and cool the chicken egg.
- Cut the tomatoes and peppers into large slices.
- Put the salad greens on the bottom of the dish, chopped peppers on top.
- Before preparing the nicoise salad, open the canned tuna, pour the oil into a small container, we will use it separately, and put the canned food on the salad dish.
- We wash the beans well from the brine and pour them onto the tuna.
- We clean the chicken egg, cut it into four parts and decorate the salad, also lay out the cut tomatoes.
- Place the anchovy fillet on top.
- For pouring, take canned oil, add vinegar, mustard and chopped garlic to it, as well as your favorite spices.
- Pour the salad with the resulting mixture directly when serving. You can decorate with greens.
Nicoise with chicken
Do not despair if you do not like fish at all, because you can cook nicoise with chicken or turkey. It all depends only on your preferences. Stepping back a little from the classic performance, you can enjoy a stunning culinary masterpiece and appreciate the versatility of French cuisine.
Ingredients:
- Chicken fillet - 300 g
- Cherry tomatoes - 10 pcs.
- Quail eggs - 8 pcs.
- Sweet pepper - 1 pc.
- Capers - 30 g
- Red onion - 1 pc.
- Potatoes - 2-3 pcs.
- Olive oil - 30 g
- Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
- Spices "Provencal herbs" - to taste
- French mustard - 1 tsp
- Lettuce greens, parsley, cilantro and basil - 1 bunch
Step by step cooking nicoise with chicken:
- First of all, we prepare all the semi-finished products. Raw ingredients - potatoes, eggs and chicken - are boiled and cooled. Poultry fillets are best cooked in immediately salted water with spices.
- In the meantime, let's refuel. To do this, combine olive oil, lemon juice, mustard and spices.
- Rinse the pepper and tomatoes thoroughly and cut into large pieces, peel and chop the onion into thin half rings. Fill these vegetables with salad dressing and leave to marinate.
- Peel the boiled potatoes, cut into 4 parts and fry a little in oil in a well-heated pan. After the potatoes are fried, put the chicken fillet in the same pan, first dividing it into small pieces with your hands.
- Pick up the greens in small pieces and place them in a salad bowl, add potatoes, chicken meat, pickled vegetables there and gently mix the resulting mixture.
- Then quail eggs and capers cut in half are added to the salad.
- The salad can be served both warm and cold.
Nicoise with anchovies
Those who have the time and desire to prepare a special meal can use this particular recipe. Cooking is carried out exclusively according to French canons. Some points will require culinary skills and professionalism. The very process of preparing nicoise salad with anchovies is fascinating and gives a lot of pleasure, with a little patience and imagination, even a novice cook can handle it.
Ingredients:
- Tuna steak - 300 g
- Anchovy fillet - 8 pcs.
- Chicken eggs - 1 pc.
- Cherry tomatoes - 6 pcs.
- Asparagus beans - 300 g
- Sweet yellow pepper - 1 pc.
- Red onion - 1 pc.
- Olives or capers - 30 g
- Fresh cucumber - 1 pc.
- Sesame seeds - 30 g
- Olive oil - 50 g
- Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
- Vinegar - 1 tablespoon
- Garlic - 1 clove
- Mustard beans - 1 tablespoon
- Lettuce greens, salt and spices to taste
- Refined oil for frying - 2 tablespoons
Step by step preparation of nicoise with anchovies:
- First of all, separate the tuna fillet from the steak, roll it in sesame seeds and fry in well-heated oil. After the fillet has cooled down a little, divide it into small slices.
- Next, we prepare the salad dressing so that it has time to infuse. To do this, mix olive oil, lemon juice, chopped garlic and mustard seeds. All this is thoroughly mixed and set aside.
- Before cooking nicoise, cut the peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers into large pieces, and the onion into thin half rings. We place all these blanks in a deep container, pour half of the salad dressing and leave to marinate.
- It is better to use frozen asparagus beans, as it will take less time to cook them. It is enough to boil it in salted water for 15 minutes.
- The next step is to prepare a poached egg. We heat boiling water in a saucepan, salt it and add 1 tbsp. l. vinegar, then spin the funnel with a spoon and pour the raw egg inside. If you can't cope with this task, you can place the egg in a ladle and boil it in a similar boiling water until the protein grabs.
- Now we start assembling the nicoise salad. First of all, put greens on the dish, then add asparagus and pickled vegetables, then tuna and cut poached eggs, sprinkle everything with olives and anchovy fillets. Sprinkle the finished dish with dressing and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
