Gnomon's Guide

Suitable for four people.

Ingredients

• broccoli (about 1.5 pounds, 750g)
• 1 tin of tuna (400g in oil, 280g drained)
• 4 medium tomatoes
• white sauce made from:
• 1 pint milk (600ml)
• 2 ounces (60g) flour
• 2 ounces (60g) butter
• packet of crisps or some grated cheese

You'll also need an oven-proof dish (Lasagne dish or similar) and a wooden spoon.

Method

Broccoli

Trim off the stalks of the broccoli, leaving it divided into florets. Boil about ½ inch (1cm) of water in a pan and boil the broccoli for a few minutes, stirring or tossing, until it is strong green in colour. Drain well. Put the broccoli in the base of the dish.

Tuna

Drain the tuna, then layer it on top of the broccoli.

Tomato

Slice the tomatoes and layer them on top of the tuna.

White Sauce

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a doughy substance which is known as roux. Cook the roux for a minute or so, stirring with the wooden spoon.

Add about one sixth of the milk and stir until it has all been absorbed by the roux. Repeat until all the milk has been added. You should now have a liquid which looks like milk. If there are lumps in this, use a hand blender to remove them. Stir the milky liquid continuously over a low heat. The sauce will start to thicken after a few minutes. When the sauce has thickened nicely, pour it over the tuna layer.

Crisps or Cheese

Break the crisps into pieces while still in the bag, then sprinkle evenly over the white sauce. Alternatively, sprinkle grated cheese over the white sauce.

Bake and Serve

Cook the whole thing in the oven at 180°C (fan oven), 190°C (oven without fan) for 40 minutes.

Serve with a green salad and accompanied by a dry white wine such as Australian Dry Riesling, Gewurztraminer, or Semillon Chardonnay.