Printable Recipe: Pan Bagnat Picnic Sandwich Recipe

Pan Bagnat Picnic Sandwich Recipe

Pan Bagnat is a squashed French sandwich that has become a traditional French picnic food. This recipe comes from the South of France, and it's healthy, simple, ultra-flavorful, and fun. What makes it a really good picnic sandwich recipe is that it's best when made the day before and eaten at room temperature. Which means you do all the work ahead of time, and just relax and chow down on the day.

Beware: delicious as this sandwich recipe is, it's a bit messy to eat. Try keep the part of the sandwich you're not eating wrapped in the plastic. If you unwrap it all at once and try to eat it that way, you may drip olive oil all over your clothes. It'll be worth it, but... still better avoided, right?

Ingredients:
4 crusty sandwich rolls, such as ciabatta, or 1 baguette, cut into four equal pieces
1 lg. clove garlic, peeled and cut in half
Plenty of extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 lg. hard-boiled eggs, peeled, sliced thin
1/2 lb. drained oil-packed high-quality tuna (don't use the cheap stuff!)
2 med. tomatoes, ripe, sliced
2-3 tbsp. capers
2/3-1 C. pitted, chopped brine-cured olives (several different kinds is nice)
1/2 red onion, finely sliced into rings
1 C. arugula or other crisp green
red wine vinegar, to taste

Instructions: 1. Cut your crusty rolls or baguette pieces in half lenghtwise. With your fingers, tear out some of the fluffy part of the bread to reduce the volume of bread and keep the sandwich from getting soggy. It should be mostly crust.

2. Rub the insides of each roll or baguette piece with the cut ends of your garlic clove. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. On one half of your bread, divide evenly and layer your egg slices, tuna, tomato slices, olives, capers, onions, and arugula or other greens.

4. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over. Drizzle a bit of red wine vinegar over. Sprinkle with a bit more salt and pepper to taste.

5. Top each sandwich with its bread mate and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.

6. Place in the refrigerator. Using a large book, a cutting board, or a plate/pan with heavy objects stacked inside it, leave the sandwiches to be smooshed for several hours or overnight.

7. Let sit at room temperature a couple of hours before serving.

8. Eat this picnic sandwich with lots of napkins and a bottle or two of French rosé wine.