Based on, based on, based on: Tuna White Bean Casserole

This twist on the classic comfort food tuna casserole swaps cannellini beans for pasta. The recipe, with many options and substitutions, below.

THIS IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE CONNECTEDNESS OF ALL THINGS. It’s based on a recipe in The New York Times by Melissa Clark, who in turn based her take on a recipe by London-based food writer Diana Henry, which in turn is a take on a French recipe, Breton tuna white bean gratin, which leads to that foundation stone of American home cooking, the tuna casserole.

Most of all, it’s an example of the ways we are all trying to get food on the table—using what we have on hand, without fuss, to make meals whose grace is in their comfort and modesty. As Clark puts it, “If there’s ever been a time to give in to cravings for retro comfort food, it’s now.”

The first thing that attracted us to this recipe was the swapping of white beans for pasta. We love pasta, a lot, but we also love beans, and they make this tuna casserole more robust and satisfying—and a little bit unexpected.

I want to mention that Melissa Clark topped hers with crushed potato chips rather than the panko we opted for, which honestly sounds pretty terrific. But potato chips are a precious delicacy at our house, particularly these days, whereas we have loads of panko on hand right now.

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Tuna White Bean Casserole

This twist on the classic comfort food tuna casserole swaps cannellini beans for pasta—and offers many variations.

Course Main Course, seafood

Servings 4

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 or more cloves garlic, minced
• 1 – 2 ribs celery, sliced (optional—see Kitchen Notes)
• 1 – 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (optional—see Kitchen Notes)
• 2 – 4 anchovy filets, minced
• 3/4 cup white wine
• 3 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 sorta-5-ounce cans tuna (oil or water packed—see Kitchen Notes0
• grated cheese – about 1/2 cup (more if you feel like it)
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup panko
• fresh herbs—parsley, tarragon, fennel fronds
• 2 teaspoons butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy, oven-safe skillet. Add in the onions and celery and sauté over medium until the onion starts to soften and become translucent, 2 or 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds, then add the anchovy and the pepper flakes and sauté another minute or two.
• Pour in the white wine and the beans and then stir and heat everything together for a couple of minutes. Then mash some of the beans—I mashed about half of the beans so that things would thicken up. You can mash all the beans, or just mash a few.
• Add in the milk, stir together and turn off the heat. Add in the tuna—if you are using water pack tuna, add in an extra tablespoon of olive oil and add any fresh herbs. We did not use any herbs because the only ones we have right now are in the garden, and it was raining impressively at the moment when I was assembling this.
• Stir in 1/3 cup cheese—I used a mix of Parmesan and cheddar, but use what you have—along with the lemon zest. Grind a bunch of black pepper over everything. Smooth it out evenly in the skillet. Then top with the panko—go easy—sprinkled on another 1/2 cup of cheese, or more if you want because cheese, and dot the panko all over with bits of butter.
• Put in the oven and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes. If the top doesn’t look sufficiently handsome and golden, run it under the broiler for a minute or so. We served this in soup plates with a side of asparagus. A green salad with a simple vinaigrette would be nice too.

Kitchen Notes

Other additions. You can customize this dish countless ways, with what you have on hand or what you crave. Red bell pepper, minced (start sautéing it with the onion at the beginning); peas (if frozen, stir in at the time when you add the tuna and any herbs); fennel (slice fine, sauté from the beginning, use instead of celery); capers, 1 or 2 tablespoons; kimchi, 1/4 cup, chopped.

Canned tuna. If you are using water pack tuna, drain the tuna; if you are using oil pack, don’t drain it. If you have fancy high-end canned tuna, hurrah! If, like us, you have basic commodity tuna, also hurrah! If you are using the kind of tuna that comes in a pouch, check the weight—these packages vary considerably—to make sure you are using enough tuna.

You can use any white beans. This would also be nice with canned butter beans.

Red pepper flakes. If you really dislike spicy things, you can omit this entirely.