 |
| My version of a Pan Bagnat ~ A French Picnic Sandwich |
 |
| Sliced and ready to eat!
Now this is NOT a traditional recipe for a Pan Bagnat ~ in Nice in the South of France where this recipe originates, they tend to follow the salad Niçoise method and usually always have anchovies and tuna in the sandwich, as well as eggs too. The literal translation of Pan Bagnat is from the Provençal dialect of Niçard, and means “wet bread”. It is often misspelled “pain bagnat” which, while correct in French, is not the spelling used in Niçard. However, although I love the original recipe, I also like a few more veggies in mine, as well as a little ham too, so this is my take on the classic Pan Bagnat with step-by-step photos of how I assembled it.  RECIPE:
French Summer Picnic Sandwich ~ Pan Bagnat
 Ingredients: 1 large Boule ~ a round loaf of bread, as seen in photos 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
6 Roasted Red Peppers from a jar
1/2 Red Onion, peeled and sliced thinly
Fresh basil leaves
Green Olives, about 2 dozen
2 (125g) balls of Mozzarella Cheese, sliced
3 fresh tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 slices of cooked Ham, (I prefer air dried ham, but it makes the loaf difficult to cut)
Salt and pepper
First ~ cut the top of the bread, as seen in the photos, about 2″, and scoop all of the inside of the bread loaf ~ leaving a 1/2″ shell; crumble the bread between your fingers or in a food processorand freeze as breadcrumbs for cooking later.
 Next, brush the inside of the bread shell and underneath the lid with the olive oil.
 Then the fun begins, you start to layer your sandwich ~ now, this is NOT written in stone, but these are the layers I prefer, for texture and flavour mingling! First, you place three of your roasted red peppers in the bottom of the shell, I had to cut mine into halves to fit them in snugly.
 Then add the sliced red onions………………………………….
 ………………………………and then some torn basil leaves
 and then the olives ~ I cut my olives into slices, so they squash down better and don’t fall out when the loaf is cut!
 |
Eh voila! A wonderful sumptuous French Picnic Sandwich! Slice the sandwich before you go on your picnic if you wish, it is easier, or just take a wooden board and knife for slicing on location. You can also cut this into wedges too. This makes a stunning centre piece summer luncheon dish, all you need is sunshine and wine, oh yes, and good company!
You can also wrap this loaf in greaseproof paper and then tie it up with string for a very arty farty way of presentation!
Finally, a great action shot ~ this was taken last week and shows Keir about to devour his last wedge of this sandwich on our nocturnal picnic! Note the light, it was 9pm at night and was still light ~ how I LOVE the summer.
Sheelagh says
Love it – thank you. Advice please…When I go to slice it,it just falls apart at one or other layer…
Some stay ‘ bound’ together but always a split. What am I doing wrong? Thanks Sheelagh
Karen Burns-Booth says
It needs to be weighed down over night and the filling must be tightly packed too. Hope that helps, Karen
Ashley says
Looks wonderful! Can’t wait to try it.