Your Best Brown Bag Lunch Contest Winner!
A&M's Testing Notes:
Pan Bagnat, literally "bathed bread," is a great solution to the brown bag lunch dilemma, and Waverly's version is pitch-perfect. A decidedly Nicoise tuna salad is pressed between two garlic and oil slicked halves of a baguette and left in the fridge overnight, which allows all of the juices to soak into the bread. We chose to include both of the optional ingredients -- crisp green beans, briny artichoke hearts -- and were glad we did. The resulting sandwich was a glorious riot of colors, flavors and textures. - A&M
Waverly's Notes:
The pan bagnat is the sandwich version of the salad Nicoise. You can find either in various forms all over the Mediterranean coast where it is made with fresh seasonal ingredients. Here, olive oil packed canned tuna is mixed with olives, red onions, fresh herbs, and vinaigrette. The salad fills the center of a crusty French baguette. In this case "crusty" is the operative word. The bread must have a hard crust on the outside otherwise it will fall apart. Pan Bagnat literally translated is "wet bread" - the point is for the vinaigrette to soak into the bread. In my opinion, THAT is what makes this such a great sandwich. - Waverly
Serves 2, but multiplies easily