Cassoulet
Warm up with this hearty cassoulet, packed with tender meats and creamy white beans for a comforting feast.
Ingredients
- 500 g dried white beans
- 2 onions
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 carrots
- 300 g pork shank
- 300 g pork skin
- 4 Toulouse sausages
- 4 duck confit legs
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 bunch thyme
- 4 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp duck fat
How to make it
- Soak the white beans in plenty of cold water overnight, then drain them. Put them in a large pot with the onions, carrots, pork shank, pork skin, bay leaves and thyme, cover with fresh water, and bring slowly to a bare simmer.
- Skim the surface, then cook gently for about 1 hour until the beans are beginning to turn tender and the pork shank is soft enough to pull apart at the edges.
- Lift out the pork shank, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, and cut the pork skin into smaller strips. Stir the shredded pork back into the beans, then add the garlic and cook for 10 minutes more until the broth tastes of garlic and herbs.
- Heat the duck fat in a pan and brown the Toulouse sausages all over until the casings are deep golden. In the same pan, warm the duck confit legs just enough for the skin to color slightly and the meat to loosen.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C. Spoon the beans into a deep baking dish with the pork shank and pork skin mixed through, then nestle in the sausages and duck confit legs so they sit partly on top.
- Ladle in enough cooking liquid to leave the beans moist and glossy, then scatter the breadcrumbs evenly over the surface.
- Bake for about 35 minutes until the top is deeply golden and crisp and the beans bubble around the edges.
- Serve the cassoulet in wide shallow bowls, with one duck confit leg and one Toulouse sausage set on top of the creamy white beans and the crisp breadcrumb crust breaking in patches across the surface.
