Kevin's Tuna Niçoise Spring Rolls

A French classic gets a fusion twist — seared rare tuna, fingerling potatoes, 10-minute egg, Kalamata olives, tomato, shallot, and blanched green beans, all rolled fresh in rice paper with a homemade thyme-caper vinaigrette on the side.

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Ingredients

• •8 rice paper wrappers (spring roll)
• •8 oz tuna, sushi-grade, for searing
• •8 fingerling potatoes
• •8 butter lettuce leaves
• •1 cup green beans
• •½ cup Kalamata olives, quartered
• •2 tomatoes, cored and thinly sliced
• •2 shallots, very thinly sliced
• •4 eggs, boiled 10 minutes and peeled
• •1 tbsp fresh thyme, for the vinaigrette
• •1 tbsp capers, for the vinaigrette
• •1 tbsp Dijon mustard, for the vinaigrette
• •1 tbsp agave, for the vinaigrette
• •½ cup red wine vinegar, for the vinaigrette
• •½ cup olive oil, for the vinaigrette
• •salt & pepper (to taste)

Steps

1. Boil the potatoes: Get the fingerling potatoes boiling until tender.
2. Start the green bean water: Salt a separate pot of water and bring it to a boil for blanching the green beans.
3. Make the vinaigrette: Combine the thyme, capers, Dijon mustard, agave, and red wine vinegar in a blender. Blitz to combine, then stream in the olive oil to emulsify.
4. Blanch the green beans & strain the vinaigrette: Blanch the green beans, then immediately shock them in an ice bath. Strain the vinaigrette to remove the solids.
5. Prep the produce: Quarter the Kalamata olives. Core the tomatoes, cut in half, and slice thin. Slice the shallots very thin.
6. Boil the eggs: Boil the eggs for 10 minutes, then peel.
7. Sear the tuna: Sear the tuna over very high heat, just long enough to color the outside while leaving the center raw.
8. Warm the dipping water: Prepare a bowl of tepid water — just a touch above room temperature — for softening the rice paper wrappers.
9. Roll the spring rolls: Give a wrapper a couple of dunks in the tepid water, then lay it out with a butter lettuce leaf as the base. Layer on the potatoes, tuna, egg, Kalamata olives, shallots, tomatoes, and green beans, and finish with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Pull the sides up, fold the back over, and roll everything together — these wrappers are resilient, so you don't have to be too careful.
10. Serve: Serve fresh with the vinaigrette alongside for dipping or drizzling.