Cassoulet recipe
Share this recipe on FacebookCassoulet is a classic, French winter dish made with beans and different types of meat including pork and duck. There are many variations of the cassoulet dish, mainly in the amount and types of meat used, but the basic idea is the same.
Preparation time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 120 minutes, Serves: 6 - 8
Ingredients
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp duck fat
300 g pork pieces (around 2 inch cubes) (use pieces of your liking)
1 celery stick, finely sliced
1 medium onion, cubed
5 cloves of garlic
10 cloves, crushed
1 or 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 or 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 or 2 sprigs of fresh oregano
500 g white haricot beans, soaked overnight
600 g canned tomatoes
1 cup tomato puree
Salt and black pepper to taste
6 pieces of fatty pork sausages
6 pieces of confit de canard (duck confit)
Directions
In a rarge, deep, oven safe pot over medium high heat add the olive oil and duck fat and fry the pork pieces until browned.
Add the celery, onion, garlic, cloves, rosemary, oregano and thyme and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Drain the beans and add them to the pot. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree and season with salt and black pepper.
diced tomatoes, tomato puree, cloves and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cover with hot water, lower heat and simmer covered for 60 minutes or until the beans are cooked.
Preheat oven to 175 Celsius.
When the beans are cooked, fry the sausages in olive oil or duck fat and add them to the pot. Top with the duck pieces, pour some more hot water to cover and place the cooking pot in the oven, uncovered for 45 minutes.
Serve with crusty French bread.
Notes and tips
You can substitute the fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme and oregano) with dried ones but use fresh ones if possible.
Instead of pork, you can use slices of smoked gammon.
You can use olive oil instead of duck fat.
You can substitute the duck confit with chicken pieces cooked in water and herbs.
You can actually substitute a lot of the ingredients in this recipe, as long as you use the beans, some kind of pork, and the cooking process the same, but the ingredients that give a unique taste to this dish are the fresh herbs, the cloves the duck fat and duck confit.
