Niçoise Butter Board

Party-ready Butter Boards are having a major moment and why not? Soft butter is artfully smeared directly onto a cutting board, dotted with delicious savory accoutrements and served with bread. I’ve taken inspiration from the classic Salad Niçoise and added capers, anchovies, roasted garlic, canned tuna and even some quartered hard boiled eggs (I’ve boiled mine for 8 minutes so the yolks are still a touch jammy). The world is your oyster with butter boards—the only limit is your imagination and the size of your board. The most important thing here is to use high-quality European or Irish butter which has higher fat content which makes it decadent and rich—and more spreadable. Also of note, I’ve used European canned tuna (usually either Spanish, Italian or French) which is packed in olive oil and is of very good quality and should be available in most grocery stores.

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Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS

1 8 oz block of unsalted European butter, softened
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp anchovies, finely chopped
1 can Spanish, Italian or French canned tuna, broken into bite sized pieces
6-8 capers, cut in half if large
A handful of very thinly sliced red onion
1-2 radishes, very thinly sliced
2 large eggs, hard boiled and quartered
2 tsp lemon zest
¼ cup micro greens
Flaky sea salt
1 French baguette, sliced lengthwise and cut into 3” pieces

METHOD

Use a knife or offset spatula and spread and swirl butter onto a large cutting board, leaving a border for your bread. Butter depth should be around ¼”.

Wipe knife clean and dab Dijon mustard onto butter surface, then repeat with whole grain mustard. Evenly dot butter with anchovies, followed by tuna, capers, red onion and radish. Add egg quarters. Finish with lemon zest and flaky sea salt and garnish with micro greens. To serve, arrange baguette slices around the butter and add small knives for spreading.