Recipe: Tunny Beans (white beans and tuna)

"Tunny Beans" (the baby's name for this dish)
misc.consumers.frugal-living/Leila A.S. (1999)

A dozen years ago when I was living in Brooklyn, my neighbors taught me this dish. They were artists living the good, frugal life in the big city -- owned their own home, she stayed home with the kids while they were tots, he worked as a bartender. They had saved and bought a house in an unfashionable neighborhood during the recession of the early 80s. (he was my mother's age, and had owned a house before - that's how he could afford to get in the market) These dear folks taught me to eat well on a frugal budget.

Later I saw a recipe similar to this in an Italian cookbook. It's supposed to be a first course appetizer of beans and tuna in a spicy tomato sauce, but my friends served it as a main dish, with good Italian bread and a green salad.1 small onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 14 oz. can of tomatoes (Italian with basil is best - I also use "fire roasted" from Safeway. DON'T use the kind with added sugar!!!)
1 (14 oz.) can white kidney beans (cannellini)
1 (6 oz.) (or bigger) can tuna -- any kind
Olive oil
black pepper
thyme, oregano, marjoram
red pepper flakes (optional)
chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Using a large, non-reactive frying pan with a lid, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until softened. Add tomatoes and simmer with lid on for 20-25 minutes, until onions are well cooked and tomatoes break down. Season with herbs as desired (I use an Herbes de Provence mixture). If sauce gets too dry, you may also add white wine or stock, or just rinse out tomato can with water,

Drain white beans, saving liquid to add to sauce if needed; add beans to tomato sauce along with optional red pepper flakes. Simmer with lid on 5 minutes, adding bean liquid if sauce gets too dry. Add drained tuna, mix in thoroughly, let cook a little longer until tuna heated through. Do not cook tuna further!

Serve sprinkled with optional chopped parsley.

To make it go further I have sometimes made the sauce with a large can of tomatoes. Of course it could be extended with more beans, too. Home cooked beans might be more frugal, and would be a good use for leftovers. If you can your own tomatoes, then so much the better! Sop the sauce with bread.

Of course in summer you can use fresh tomatoes... but this is a good, happy meal for midwinter. Somehow the garlicky tomato fish combination seems like a promise of better weather to come.

In our house, this serves 2, but my friends could eat it and feed the baby too.