Bean & Tuna Salad (fagioli e tonno)
Bean & Tuna Salad is a simple main course salad or antipasto that’s beautifully flavoured with olive oil, lemon, red wine vinegar, sliced red onions, garlic, and parsley. Based on Italian fagioli e tonno, it’s richly flavoured yet healthy.
My quicker version of this classic uses tinned cannellini beans instead of dried but has all the flavour of the original thanks to an easy tip. The dressing and beans are gently heated then left to marinate. Once cool, they’re served over rocket and topped with chunks of quality tuna. Delicious eaten with crunchy, garlic-rubbed toasts.
I like to add extra vegetables such as chopped celery or fennel. Or you could stir in chunks of pepper or halved cherry tomatoes. But even without the extras, Bean & Tuna Salad makes a wonderful meal.
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The Tuscans so love their beans that they’re known to fellow Italians as mangiafagioli or ‘bean eaters’. And one of their most popular beans is also a favourite of mine: cannellini. Famous Tuscan recipes using this white, creamy bean include ribollita, a thrifty bread, bean and vegetable soup, and fagioli all’uccelletto with sage, garlic and tomatoes.
Another well-known Tuscan cannellini bean dish is fagioli e tonno or beans and tuna. In her classic book Italian Food (1954), Elizabeth David says this should be served ‘in large helpings’ and ‘not as dainty little dishes with a spoonful of beans and a crumb or two’ of tuna. It’s in that spirit I share with you today my version: easy and delicious Bean & Tuna Salad.
FAGIOLI E TONNO / BEAN & TUNA SALAD
To make a classic fagioli e tonno you soak dried cannellini beans for several hours or overnight. The next day you simmer them until tender before mixing with an olive oil, red wine and/or lemon dressing plus slices of onion. Tossing the beans with the dressing while they’re still warm means they absorb lots of those lovely flavours. Once cool, you add the tuna.
However, if you haven’t planned ahead, or want to avoid the fuel costs of an hour or so of cooking, then opening a tin of cannellini beans is the way to go. Together with a can or jar of tuna from the kitchen cupboard, you’ll have the base for a Bean & Tuna Salad at a moment’s notice. But how do you get tinned beans to be as imbued with the aromatics as in the classic dish? The surprising answer is, a microwave.
MY BEAN & TUNA SALAD
To achieve greater depth of flavour using tinned beans, I first mix them with some of the dressing ingredients. I’ll explain why only some in a moment.
In a microwave-safe container, I whisk extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar with a little salt and pepper. Then I stir in sliced red onion, chopped garlic, plus a small bulb of fennel, finely chopped. If I don’t have fennel, I’ll use a couple of celery sticks instead. You can leave out the fennel or celery if you prefer, but I like the extra flavour and crunch they bring. If you want to swap in fleshier vegetables like chopped tomatoes or peppers, these are best added later.
Now I stir in the drained cannellini beans and pop in the microwave. We don’t want to cook the beans again, just gently heat them in the dressing and aromatics. So go easy and do it in 30-second bursts, stirring between each burst. You shouldn’t need more than 2 minutes in total.
As soon as everything is nicely warm, I stir in the zest of a lemon, two tablespoons of its juice, and some parsley. I don’t add these earlier as cooked lemon and parsley are quite different in flavour to raw. And I want their freshness.
We now leave the beans and vegetables to cool to room temperature. During this time, they’ll soak up all those lovely flavours. Although you could assemble the Bean & Tuna Salad as soon as they’re cool, it’ll be much better if you can leave it for a minimum of 30 minutes. If you can leave it longer, it’ll be even better. An hour or so is good, but even up to 24 hours stored in an airtight container in the fridge and it will be fine. Just allow time to come back to room temperature before serving.
Before you assemble the salad, stir the beans and have a taste. Do they need a bit more salt, pepper, or lemon juice? I always add more chopped parsley at this stage.
SERVING BEAN & TUNA SALAD
I love peppery rocket as a bed for this salad. But you could use other greens such as spinach or watercress. I strew it all over a serving plate or individual plates then spoon over the lemony, garlicky beans.
On top of that goes the tuna. For Bean & Tuna Salad, I strongly suggest you get the best quality tuna you can. For an everyday salad, a tin of tuna chunks in olive oil will be fine. But I sometimes like to push the boat out with a jar of albacore tuna fillets. I find this much tastier than any tin and it comes in big, meaty chunks. Because the one I buy is packed in extra virgin olive oil I use that to make the dressing.
After placing the tuna on top of the beans, I drizzle over any remaining marinade.
If you like, you can serve the salad as an antipasto with several other small dishes. Try it with my Artichoke Spread with garlic, lemon and mint, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Marinated Roasted Peppers with Goat’s Cheese or Italian tomato and bread salad Panzanella.
But I like to eat it as a main course salad. For some crunch, I make garlic toasts. Thick, homemade bread toasted or griddled, rubbed with a clove of garlic and sprinkled with olive oil. Eaten like this, the recipe will serve two as a filling main course, four for lunch or a lighter meal.
If you want to add other vegetables, then do so once the beans have cooled to room temperature. Tomato wedges or sliced peppers would work, although I must say I prefer the simplicity of my recipe as written.
If you’ve made my Bean & Tuna Salad, please leave a comment and don’t forget to rate it.
Bean & Tuna Salad
Based on Tuscan fagioli e tonno, the flavour of this easy, delicious salad is enhanced by marinating the cannellini beans in a warm dressing until you're ready to assemble and serve.
Try to use the best quality tuna in olive oil you can - that sold in jars is usually excellent.
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil saved from the tuna if it is extra virgin
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- salt and black pepper
- 1 medium red onion halved then thinly sliced
- 1 small bulb fennel or 2 stalks celery (optional) finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- 240 g cooked cannellini beans, drained this is the approximate, drained weight of a standard tin
- 1 lemon zest and juice
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- rocket or other salad leaves
- 150 g tuna in olive oil weight after draining: if the olive oil is extra virgin, save it for the dressing
To serve (optional)
- lightly toasted bread rubbed with garlic and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
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In a large microwave safe bowl, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, a large pinch of salt, a good grind of black pepper.
Stir in the sliced onion, chopped fennel or celery if using, the chopped garlic, and the drained cannellini beans.
Microwave on high for approximately 2 minutes or until the beans and dressing are warm: heat in 30 second bursts, stirring between each burst.
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Stir in the lemon zest, 2 tbsp of the juice, and HALF the chopped parsley. Set aside until cooled to room temperature.
Although now ready to eat, it's better to set aside to improve the flavour. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. Bring back to room temperature before serving.
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Stir the beans then taste. If needed, add more lemon juice, salt or pepper. Stir in the remaining parsley.
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Spread the rocket or other salad leaves on a platter or individual plates.
Spoon the beans over the rocket then top with the tuna broken into large chunks.
Drizzle any remaining dressing all over the salad and serve with the optional garlic toasts.
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