Tuna and White Bean Salad

Tuna and White Bean Salad: Step by Step

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1. Put the sliced onion in a bowl with the lemon juice and a pinch of the salt and leave it 10 minutes. It softens and turns pink.

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2. Drain the tuna, keeping a tablespoon of the oil.

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3. Add the reserved tuna oil, the olive oil, vinegar and the rest of the salt to the onion and whisk with a fork.

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4. Fold in the beans, capers and tomatoes and leave 5 minutes so the beans take on the dressing.

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5. Add the tuna in large flakes and fold once or twice only — worked any further it turns to paste.

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6. Fold through the parsley, taste for salt and acid, and serve over the rocket.

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Keep an Eye on These

1. Tuna in olive oil, not brine. It is the single decision that makes this dish worth eating.
2. Rinse the beans properly. The starchy liquid in the tin dulls the dressing and makes everything taste faintly of tin.
3. This is better after 20 minutes than straight away, and better still at room temperature than fridge-cold.

To Go With It

A cold Vermentino · Grilled sourdough rubbed with garlic · A boiled egg, if you want it heavier

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Focaccia Genovese, Rosemary Focaccia, Creamy Parmesan Polenta.

Keeping Tuna and White Bean Salad

Refrigerate up to 2 days. The rocket wilts, so add it only to the portion you are eating. Take it out 20 minutes before serving — cold flattens the olive oil.

Tuna and White Bean Salad Nutrition Facts

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: a drained tin is counted at its full weight, liquid included, so those lines run high. How the figures are worked out.