PAN BAGNAT, the French way to eat a salad on a sandwich.

What is Pan Bagnat exactly?
I'm glad you asked! Pan Bagnat is a traditional sandwich that originated in the South of France. It is often made with round, rustic day old bread called "pain de campagne," which is split in half and filled with the ingredients found in the classic French "Salade Niçoise". Often times the bread will be rubbed with garlic cloves before adding in the remainder of ingredients. 

Typical ingredients seem to vary a bit, and my guess is, as with many dishes around the world, that what goes into it depends on  the region, who is cooking, and what ingredients are available.  Generally though, Pan Bagnat includes some variation of tuna, hard-boiled eggs, black olives, tomatoes, red onion, and greens such as arugula or watercress.

The sandwich is typically seasoned with a vinaigrette made with olive oil, vinegar, and herbs such as basil and parsley. Then, it is pressed or weighted down for a few hours to allow the flavours to meld together and the bread to become moistened by the dressing. This makes the Pan Bagnat a great make-ahead sandwich that can be prepared in advance, perfect picnic fare. 

Pan Bagnat is thought to have originated in the 19th century, as a way for fishermen and others in the working class in Nice to enjoy a portable and filling lunch. It became a popular street food in Nice and the surrounding region, and is now considered a traditional dish of the Provence region.

Pan Bagnat isn't typically vegan, but I am.
As I shared above, traditional Pan Bagnat is not vegan, but, I am. I love to explore foods from all over the world, and I enjoy putting my own spin on things to share with others and of course to suit my own diet and lifestyle.  I think it is a myth that veganizing a dish means you are losing something or taking something away from it. It's important to understand the origins, history and culture of a dish, but veganism is an ethical movement that not only won't go away, it is consistently growing, and I think the best way I can show my appreciation and love of globally inspired food, is to make my veganized version of things taste amazing. I wasn't always vegan, and I wasn't vegan when I first started making and eating pan bagnat, but I love this plant based version just as much, if not more. I am certain there are plenty of vegans in France, and I can only hope they would approve of my homage to this classic sandwich. 

Pan Bagnat, love at first bite. ​
This sandwich is close to my heart. I used to make my original version years ago in late summer, when sun ripened tomatoes were bursting with flavour. Along with the tomatoes I added olives, red onion, fresh basil & hard boiled egg. Then, dressed everything with a simple red wine vinaigrette. 

I've since replaced the egg with smashed white beans seasoned with kala namak. It's a delicious and convincing alternative. Kala Namak is a sulpheric sea salt which provides an eggy taste to whatever you sprinkle it on. I am certain some would take a bite and would assume they were eating egg. 

Pan Bagnat translates to "bathed bread", which describes perfectly the essence of this sandwich. My veganized version of pan bagnat has tomatoes, onion, shaved fennel, olives, white beans & basil. The veg is all dressed with a red wine vinegar and olive oil based vinaigrette. The idea is to drizzle additional olive oil all over both sides of a split baguette that has bread torn from the middle to hollow it out. Then you add the juicy marinated veg (don't avoid the liquid, ADD the liquid) and other ingredients (basil, olives). The bread soaks up all the juices. The result is a gorgeous flavourful marinated sandwich. Baguette is really chewy so allowing the moisture to soak in not only makes for the best flavour, it makes it easier to eat too. 

This recipe makes enough to dress 1 standard size baguette that you get at the supermarket. I get 3 sandwiches out of it. You could do 4 if you want them a bit smaller. 

Vegan Pan Bagnat: Steps & Pro Tips

Tomatoes
Starting with the best summer ripe tomatoes makes a huge difference. This isn't a sandwich I make in the winter. I make it late summer when tomatoes are at their best. My garden ones weren't ready so I grabbed a few heirloom tomatoes from the ladies at Heart Beet Organics. 

The marinated tomato, fennel and onion salad is delicious. Good enough to make as a side dish to serve on the table for a summer feast. I like to season it with a bit of salt and a good amount of black pepper. 

Smashed White Beans

• ​The smashed white beans take the place of hard boiled egg in my vegan pan bagnat recipe. 
• They get seasoned with some of the vinaigrette, garlic, and kala namak - a black sulpheric salt that tastes "eggy". 
• You can smash them with a fork, but it's easier to just grab your potato masher!

Can I leave out the kala namak and use only regular salt?
You could leave it out- but I think the kala namak is an important part of flavouring this sandwich. Non vegan versions use egg- a key component of pan bagnat. Luckily kala namak seems more readily available in stores than it used to be, at least near me. I no longer have to purchase it online. I've noticed it in the international section of grocery stores- near the Indian spices. 

Baguette
Choose the best quality baguette you can get your hands on. Ideally it's not too narrow at the ends, and wider and a bit thicker is better. 

The sandwich requires hollowing out the middles of the baguette to make room for the filling. Save the bread pieces for the crows, crumbs or making croutons. 

A good quality extra virgin olive oil works great here. It doesn't have to be expensive, just make sure you like the taste of it, because the idea is to bath/soak the bread with olive oil and juices from the tomato and vinaigrette. 

Assemble the Pan Bagnat
1.  Spread the smashed white bean mixture on the bottom halves of the hollowed out baguette. 

2.  Then spoon the marinated tomato, fennel and onion salad over the top halves of the hollowed out baguette. You want to stuff in more than you might think. Use it all up. Make sure to pour in some of the juices- the idea is to make the baguette a bit wet. 

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3. Add basil and olives to the bottom halves of the baguette, overtop of the smashed white bean mixture. ​

4. Finally, drizzle a bit more olive oil overtop of everything and press both halves of the sandwich together. 

It's best to wrap it tightly in saran wrap to give the juices and olive oil time to soften the bread a bit, but I definitely have eaten it straight away before - it's just a bit harder to bite through the bread. 

How to Eat Pan Bagnat
Since this sandwich can be a little messy, I recommend wrapping it first in parchment, then in plastic wrap. That way, when you’re ready to eat, you can peel back the parchment bit by bit—exposing just enough for each bite. It’s the perfect trick if you’re taking Pan Bagnat on a picnic. At home, I don’t bother; I let the juices and fillings spill out and happily mop them up with my hands.