1 Put your white beans in a pot with the carrot mirepoix, the small onions, garlic clove, thyme and bay leaf. Pour in 2.1 qt (2 litres) of water and bring to a boil.
2 As they cook, skim off any impurities. After about 20 minutes, start testing your beans. When they soften, salt them (important: don't salt before) and finish cooking.
3 Drain them, removing the bay leaf, and save some of the cooking liquid (about 0.8 cup (20 cl)).
4 Fifteen minutes before serving, heat your pan with olive oil. When hot, sear your tuna fillets, season with salt and pepper, then cook 3 minutes on each side. Set the pan aside, covered.
5 Remove your tuna slices to a plate. Add the remaining fish cooking liquid to the pan along with the reserved bean cooking liquid, then 1.75 oz (50 g) of roughly chopped candied tomatoes, the ketchup and a pinch of Espelette pepper. Adjust seasoning, then add the beans. Bring to a boil and place your tuna slices on top for the heat. Cover and turn off the heat.
6 To plate: on nice warm plates, put some beans first, then place the tuna slice in the centre topped with some of the remaining candied tomatoes. A beautiful "Land and Sea" dish, very typical of Breton cooking.
Paimpol beans carry the AOP (Protected Designation of Origin), one of the top honours representing French produce quality.
Line-caught albacore tuna (white tuna) comes to us from the fish market on the island of Yeu.
In inland Brittany, around Loudéac, some cooks swap Paimpol beans for cheaper local white beans, but the dish loses its finesse. It's the cocos' light texture and their lack of starchiness that makes the difference. Seasonally, autumn and winter are the right times, when fine food shops stock the dried cocos in bags. This is a dish for late October through March, for those evenings when you want something substantial but not heavy.
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