The very best ploughman's salad
Serves 4
Easy
Prep:
Cook:
plus pickling
Get all the best bits of a traditional British ploughman’s lunch in this generous sharing salad, including sharp cheddar, pickles, eggs and crisp apple
Skip to ingredients
Units:
- 2 thick slices sourdough(about 225g total; we used a seeded loaf)
- 2 tsp cold-pressed rapeseed or olive oil
- 100g extra mature cheddar25g grated and 75g cut into rough chunks
- 4 eggsat room temperature
- 2 Little Gem lettucesleaves separated and roughly torn
- 12 cornichonshalved lengthways
- 12 English eating apple(such as Cox’s Orange Pippin), cored and finely sliced
- 16 cherry tomatoeshalved or quartered
For the quick pickled onions
- 1 large red onionhalved and finely sliced
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
For the honey-mustard dressing
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp English mustard
- 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed or extra virgin olive oil
Nutrition: Per serving
- kcal997
- fat44g
- saturates5g
- carbs110g
- sugars5g
- fibre8g
- protein38g
- salt1.92g
Method
step 1
For the pickled onions, put the sliced onion in a non-metallic bowl with the sugar, vinegar and ½ tsp sea salt. Toss well and set aside to pickle for at least 30 mins, or chill overnight. The onions should soften slightly and turn vivid pink.
step 2
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Tear or cut the sourdough into 2cm chunks, then toss with 2 tsp oil, a little black pepper and the grated cheddar. Spread the croutons out over a baking tray and roast for 10-12 mins, turning once or twice, until crisp and golden. Leave to cool on the tray so the melted cheese sets into crunchy shards around the croutons.
step 3
Cook the eggs in a pan of boiling water for 7 mins for jammy centres or up to 9 mins for hard-boiled. Drain and immediately plunge into a bowl of cold water until cool enough to handle. Peel and halve.
step 4
For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl, then stir in a spoonful or two of the pickling liquid from the onions. Season well. Add the lettuce and cornichons to the bowl, tossing lightly to coat, then arrange on a large serving platter.
step 5
Arrange the halved eggs over the salad along with the cheddar chunks, apple slices, pickled onions and tomatoes. Scatter over the cheesy croutons and drizzle over any remaining dressing. Serve immediately while the croutons are crisp and the eggs are slightly warm.
