• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Italian Food Made Simple

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Resources
    • Conversion Charts
    • Glossary
  • Travel Italia
  • Contact
  • Did You Know

Tuscan Beans and Tuna

February 11, 2015 by Barbara Leave a Comment

So the simple story goes something like this.  The Italians didn’t know beans about white beans until explorers brought them back from the New World, probably Mexico, in the 1500s.  Prior to that, the ancient Romans had cultivated black-eyed peas and Renaissance Italians enjoyed the broad bean or fava.  But the white fagioli, now know as cannellini beans, were new and considered fairly exotic.  The Italians were probably the first Europeans to eat them.

Clement VII received some of the first seeds because, well, he was the pope.  They were planted in Tuscany.  The story goes that when Clement’s relataive, Catherine de’ Medici (age 14), left for France in 1533 to marry Henry II (also age 14), her brother Alessandro gave her some cannellini beans to take with her as a wedding present.  No silver candelabra for her.  But these beans were very new and special and Catherine was a foodie.  She introduced the white bean to the French.  Question: would there be no cassoulet without Catherine?

Back in Italy, cannellini beans were such a hit they quickly became a staple in Tuscany.  Not just for the royal table, they were perfect as peasant food, la cucina povera. They were easy to cultivate, very nutritious and served simply with olive oil, garlic and sage.  The Tuscans were in love. And to this day the rest of Italy refers to Tuscans as i mangiafagioli, the bean-eaters.

This bean and tuna salad requires few ingredients and little time to prepare.  I made a double batch once for my daughter’s International Day at school and there wasn’t a bean left on the dish.  You can use dried beans and soak them overnight but that wouldn’t be simple and simple is what we’re all about.

Print

Tuscan Beans and Tuna (Fagioli al Tonno)

Ingredients:

  • 2 1-pound cans of cannellini beans
  • 1 6-ounce can tuna fish, preferably packed in olive oil (but if packed in
  • water or vegetable oil then drain the can)
  • ¼ cup slivered red onion
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons parsley, preferably flat-leaf
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Rinse and drain the beans, then spoon them into a shallow dish.  Fold in the tuna, breaking up the chunks as you fold.  Add the red onion and gently stir.
  2. Mix the olive oil and lemon juice, pour over the bean/tuna mixture and again gently stir.
  3. Salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle the parsley over the salad. Served chilled or at room temperature.

Note: If you want to cook dried beans, one pound of dried beans makes about 5 ½ to 6 cups of cooked beans.  Measure accordingly.

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: Recipes

Previous Post: « Stracciatella…with benefits
Next Post: Valentine’s Day Italian-Style »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar


Hi. I'm Barbara Francis and I hope you like authentic Italian food as much as I do. It's simple, fresh, seasonal. What's not to like? And it's part of my heritage. So join me in the kitchen of Italian Food Made Simple. Just step right over the dog, she won't move even if you ask her.

more about me »

Stay Connected

RSS Twitter Facebook

Search

Archives

  • June 2018
  • February 2018
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014

Copyright © 2023 Italian Food Made Simple on the Foodie Pro Theme