Breton Tuna and White Bean Gratin

Name: Breton Tuna and White Bean Gratin
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 2 (14-ounce) cans white beans; Kosher salt, to taste; Black pepper, to taste; 2 tablespoons heavy cream (or use more milk if you don’t have cream); 2 tablespoons whole milk; 1 can tuna in olive oil (preferably a 7-ounce can, but 5 3/4-ounce is fine); 1 small dried red chile, crumbled (optional); 1/4 cup grated Gruyère; 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs; 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces; 1/2 tablespoon chopped parsley

Recipe from Diana Henry

Adapted by Melissa Clark

Breton Tuna and White Bean Gratin — Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4(849)
Comments: Read comments

Like a tuna casserole given a makeover, this pantry dinner is modern, sleek and a whole lot more elegant than anything your grandmother used to serve. The key is using really good-quality tuna, preferably the kind packed in extra-virgin olive oil and imported from Italy or Spain. If you can find a large 7-ounce can, use that. But the more typical size (5¾ ounces) will work perfectly well if you can’t. Serve this over toasted slices of crusty bread that you’ve drizzled with oil. A crisp green salad or platter of sliced, salted cucumber is all you need to make a satisfying meal. —Melissa Clark

Featured in: Diana Henry Writes Hundreds of Great Recipes a Year. How Does She Do It?

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

½tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1onion, finely chopped
6garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2(14-ounce) cans white beans
Kosher salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
2tablespoons heavy cream (or use more milk if you don’t have cream)
2tablespoons whole milk
1can tuna in olive oil (preferably a 7-ounce can, but 5¾-ounce is fine)
1small dried red chile, crumbled (optional)
¼cup grated Gruyère
2tablespoons panko bread crumbs
1tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces
½tablespoon chopped parsley

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook for until fragrant and soft, another 2 to 4 minutes. Drain one can of beans and add to the skillet, then add the other can with its liquid. Season generously with salt and pepper to taste, then reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
Step 3
Transfer bean mixture to a food processor and blend to a purée. Add cream and milk, and pulse to combine. Scrape mixture into a large bowl and stir in tuna, chile and half the cheese. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Step 4
Scrape mixture into a 1½-quart shallow gratin dish (no need to grease it). Sprinkle with bread crumbs and remaining cheese, and dot with butter. Bake until top begins to turn golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, then scatter parsley over top and bake for another 5 minutes, until top is golden and bubbling.

Ratings

4 out of 5

849 user ratings

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Comments

SH in SF5 years ago

As described, this is a four pot recipe: skillet, bowl, food processor, gratin dish. Use a cast iron frypan & roughly mash the beans with a potato masher in the pan. Take off heat before adding the tuna, chile and cheese. Bake in the frypan. Save time, energy and water by cutting out most of the washing up.

Ben R7 years ago

Pureed half the beans and skimped a little on the milk a bit to make it a bit more stick-to-you-ribs. Double the tuna if you use the 5.75-oz cans (use oil from one, not both) for a heartier autumn dish on a cloudy, cold day (here in Sweden we have a few). I used regular breadcrumbs, so I assume panko would have been better. Also added canned mushrooms and peas for a little roughage. NO butter on top. I liked this one a lot.

Anne7 years ago

The version in the Telegraph includes the oil from the tuna.

AnneMarie4 months ago

Delicious. Will make again. After reading comments, I elected to use 1 can of beans (used kidney since I didn't have white and worked well) and much of the liquid, added frozen peas and did all in a 10" cast iron pan. Added 2 chopped celery stalks with the onion, then simmered and added generous 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, dried thyme and rosemary. Used immersion blender to puree about 1/2 can of the beans. Also, added handful of chopped chives before baking and served with avocado wedges on top

Esther4 months ago

I've elevated the recipe by using fresh tuna that I seasoned and cooked sous vide in olive oil instead of canned tuna, and by using dried beans that I soaked, seasoned, and cooked in the pressure cooker. Oh, and I use (a lot) more of the cheese and the tuna than is called for here. Of course, this makes it somewhat more of a production than opening the cans you already have in your pantry, but it also turns a weekday family dish into food you'd serve if you had company over.

Esther4 months ago

I've made this gratin plenty of times and it's always lovely. The Times, however, has this weird assumption that its readers love washing dishes. Let me help: Instead of scraping the beans from the pan into the food processor to puree, and then scraping them from the food processor to the bowl, and then scraping them from the bowl to the baking dish, puree the beans with an IMMERSION BLENDER right in the pan, then mix in the tuna and cheese and stuff, then scrape that into the baking dish.

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