Green beans, anchovy, quail egg and mustard

Serves 4-6

A simple and summery salad

– a sort of pared-down salade niçoise. It’s good as a starter, or with crusty bread and a hunk of cheese as a lunch for two. With the quail eggs cooked and peeled, and the beans blanched and chilled, it’s a simple matter of putting things on a plate. This could be bulked up with black olives, cherry tomatoes and croutons.

— 250g green beans

— 8-12 quail eggs

— 1 tsp Dijon mustard

— the smallest garlic clove you

can find, crushed to a paste

— 2 tsp white-wine vinegar

— 4 tsp olive oil

— 12 anchovy fillets

Up to a day ahead

Trim the woody bits from the green beans. I don’t bother to trim the other ends because I think they look nice, but by all means do if you prefer. Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and drop in the beans. Bring back to a boil and simmer for 90 seconds, then drain and transfer to a bowl of iced water to hold their colour and stop them overcooking. When they are cold, drain, cover and chill.

Bring another pan of water to a boil and carefully drop in the quail eggs. Simmer for two minutes, then transfer to a bowl of iced water. Leave until cool, then drain and peel. Cover and chill.

Mix the mustard, garlic, vinegar and oil, season with salt and pepper, cover and chill.

1 hour ahead

Take all the components out of the fridge.

Dinner time

Put a pile of beans on each serving plate and top with a couple of anchovies. Cut the eggs in half and place on top, then finish with the dressing.