A very tasty picnic salad

Tuscan style
Tuna and white bean

These ingredients make enough of this Tuscan picnic salad for 6 people. Serve with crusty bread and a bottle of Italian plonk for a simple meal or with other picnic meal ideas for more of a spread.

• 250 g dried haricot or cannelloni beans (the tinned version will NOT do because the beans will not absorb the flavours in the same way)
• A few cloves of garlic
• A few sprigs of herbs such as parsley, rosemary and thyme and a couple of bay leaves
• 400 g tinned tuna fish in oil (or if you only have it in water, just use more olive oil)
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• a handful of parsley, chopped (flat leaf if possible)
• juice of a lemon
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and black pepper
• Rocket leaves to serve
• a few spring onions or a small red onion (optional)

Start the night before and soak the beans in plenty of cold water.

The next day, drain the beans and put them in a large saucepan. Cover with fresh cold water and add the garlic cloves (don’t bother peeling them) and herbs.

Bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes. The cover and simmer gently for about 75 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile drain the tuna, reserving the oil. Break it into chunks in a bowl and add the celery and parsley.

When the beans are tender, drain them and add the warm beans to the bowl with the lemon juice, oil from the tuna fish and/or olive oil, and a generous seasoning of salt and black pepper. Mix well.

This is a meal which should be served just warm or at room temperature, so it's ideal for a sunny picnic salad. After all it comes from Italy! I serve it on a bed of rocket leaves and sometimes sprinkle it with chopped spring onions or slices of red onion for extra ummph!