Salade Paysanne

Salade Paysanne (French Country Salad)

A rustic French country salad built on warm potatoes, soft-boiled eggs, ripe tomatoes, and a generous shaving of cheese, dressed with a simple shallot vinaigrette.

Prep

15 min

Cook

25 min

Total

40 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •600 g (1 lb 5 oz) waxy potatoes, Charlotte or Bintje, skin on
• •4 whole large eggs, free-range if possible
• •4 whole ripe tomatoes, or 250 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• •1 whole small red onion, thinly sliced
• •2 whole shallots, finely minced
• •80 g (2¾ oz) Comté cheese, or Cantal/Tomme; shaved with a peeler
• •30 ml (2 tbsp) red wine vinegar
• •90 ml (6 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil
• •5 g (1 tsp) Dijon mustard
• •10 g (¼ cup) fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• •10 g (¼ cup) fresh chives, snipped
• •fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Steps

1. 1 Scrub the potatoes, place them in a pot of cold salted water, bring to a boil and simmer 18–22 minutes until a knife slides in easily. Drain and let cool just enough to handle, then slice 5 mm (¼ in) thick. Keep warm.
2. 2 Meanwhile, lower the eggs into boiling water and cook exactly 8 minutes for a firm white and a jammy yolk. Transfer to an ice bath for 2 minutes, then peel and halve lengthwise. (Eggs are safely cooked once the yolk reaches 70 °C / 160 °F; 8 minutes from boiling achieves this consistently.)
3. 3 Slice the tomatoes 5 mm (¼ in) thick; if using cherry tomatoes, halve them. Toss with a pinch of salt and set in a colander 5 minutes to shed excess juice.
4. 4 In a small bowl, whisk the minced shallot, vinegar, Dijon, salt and pepper. Slowly stream in the olive oil while whisking until emulsified.
5. 5 In a wide shallow bowl, layer the warm potatoes first, scatter the red onion over them, then add the tomatoes. Drizzle two-thirds of the vinaigrette over the warm potatoes (they absorb it best), then toss gently so the potatoes keep their shape.
6. 6 Shave the Comté over the top with a vegetable peeler. Nestle the egg halves cut-side up among the vegetables. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette, scatter parsley and chives, finish with a few grinds of pepper and serve at once while the potatoes are still warm.