Tuscan white bean and tuna salad

This Tuscan white bean and tuna salad (fagioli e tonno) is really easy to make with just a handful of ingredients. The result is a a tasty mixture of flavors that works well as an antipasti, potluck side or simply a quick lunch. 

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There are many a day in warmer weather when I really don't feel like doing a whole lot of work to make lunch. In fact, meals in general. I can often motivate myself to marinate something the night before or early in the day as our main for dinner, then keep sides simple, like marinated grilled zucchini, corn or salads. But lunch, I often struggle to feel like making mu

That's where super simple salads like this fit in perfectly. It's traditionally an antipasti (appetizer) but I find it works really well for lunch on days when you just don't feel like making much. It takes mere minutes to put together, and is something you can enjoy either as it is or along with some other simple items like bread and cheese. 

Characteristics of Tuscan cuisine

While you'll find a few grander dishes like bistec alla fiorentina in Florence, a large part of Tuscan cuisine would be considered "cucina povera" (peasant cooking) which make the most of simple, local ingredients. These dishes typically use only a small number of ingredients that most people in the area would have available.

In Tuscan cooking this means cooking with olive oil and using lots of vegetables and legumes. Chestnuts feature fairly heavily in various ways, as do beans and pulses. And as with most cucina povera, you'll find many creative ways to use leftovers, from soups like ribollita to salads like panzanella. 

This salad is a perfect example of Tuscan cucina povera, using a favorite bean used in Tuscan cooking, cannellini beans. And while incredibly simple, it works so well.

Ingredients in Tuscan white bean and tuna salad

This bean tuna salad uses a really short list of ingredients:

• Cannellini beans - this is the main bulk of the salad. Traditionally, you would start with dried beans and soak and cook them. True, they will probably taste a little better but canned beans also work well and are a whole lot quicker. 
• Tuna - this is the other main ingredient in the salad. You use canned rather than fresh but you want to make sure the tuna is good quality. Traditionally, it might be "ventresca" which is fillet from the belly, but if you can't get this then another good packed chunks in olive oil would be good.
• Red onion - this is commonly used in the region rather than other types of onion and adds a nice bit of texture, bite and color to the salad. If you find raw onion too sharp, sitting the onion in iced water briefly does help reduce it a little. 
• Fresh parsley - this adds freshness and some extra color. Generally, this isn't a salad with "greens" but parsley has some of the same qualities without the bulk.
• Olive oil - this is the main dressing for the salad. You want to make sure you use a good quality extra virgin olive oil (or vigin as next best) and be relatively generous. 
• Lemon juice - this gives a little acidity to the dressing as well as freshness. 
• Ground black pepper and salt - just a little to add to the seasoning.

​​​​​​​Making the salad and substitutions

Putting the salad together is as simple as draining, a small amount of chopping and then mixing. It takes mere minutes to do. You can thinly slice the onion if you prefer, but I prefer dicing into a similar size to the beans, or smaller.

I recommend rinsing canned beans as the liquid in the can can be a bit thick and you don't really want it in the salad. If you cook from dry, just drain after cooking. But don't rinse the tuna, just drain off the excess oil. A little extra oil is better than losing some of the tuna or having it taste watery.

You can prepare the salad ahead of time and refrigerate it until you need it - in fact, it's in many ways better if made a few hours or the day before to let the flavors mingle.

In terms of substitutions, having so few ingredients there aren't so many to be made. However that said, you can make a few. If you don't have cannellini beans you could use other small white beans. Though I do recommend cannellini if at all possible. Instead of red onion you could use sweet onion or spring onions. 

Salad variations

While this combination is pretty typical, some variations use red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice in the dressing. If you prefer this, go ahead, but personally I prefer the slightly more mellow lemon.

You can also add some extra ingredients to bulk out the salad if you like, such as if you want to make it into more of a meal salad. Additions can include some finely sliced celery, chopped cherry tomatoes and arugula. Each adds some complimentary flavor, texture as well as color.

This Tuscan white bean and tuna salad is so simple and quick to make and versatile in how you serve it. It can be a great potluck side, enjoyed as a throw-it-together lunch or as the more traditional antipasti before the main meal. Whichever way, it's a lovely mix of and tasty, too.

Try these other easy salad ideas:

• Raw beet quinoa salad (another without traditional greens that's easy and delicious)
• Avocado grapefruit salad (similarly short on ingredients but not on flavor)
• Sicilian fennel orange salad (again without traditional greens, this salad is bright, with great textures and flavors)
• Plus get more appetizer recipes and Italian recipes in the archives.

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

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