Cassoulet Recipe

The recipes I based this off of include Michael Ruhlman’s and Anthony Bourdain’s cassoulet from No Reservations Cleveland, a Martha Stewart recipe that’s bizarrely edited, and therefore incomplete and lastly a Michael Lewis (Gourmet) recipe adapted from Julia Child’s recipe.

While cassoulet sounds intimidating it’s a very basic country dish. Literally, this is just meat and beans in a pot people. I mention this because with any very simple food, quality ingredients are key. So get the best and freshest you can find with what you’re willing to spend. This is not a place to skimp. It’s also worth noting that there is a lot of flexibility in regards to the meat, if you Google around you’ll find people also use pork shoulder, lamb or duck breast instead of any of what’s listed below. The important thing is to make sure there’s still a fatty pork to flavor the beans and flavor the dish as it cooks.

My recipe was designed for my 5qt dutch oven, if you have a larger roaster you could add a half pound of beans and another pound of a different meat. Because I used bacon and prosciutto I didn’t need to add any salt to the dish, but if you are using pork belly you will probably want a teaspoon to season the beans as they cook.

I recommend making your own confit at least a week in advance (though you could do it two days before if pressed for time.) I use Michael Ruhlman’s confit recipe. Confit is actually very simple, it just requires you have some time on your hands. You’ll need to allow the confit to sit at room temperature for a few hours before making the cassoulet so the fat liquifies and you can get the legs out.

If you are wondering where on earth to get pork belly or duck legs for confit, call around to some local butchers if you don’t have a good farmer’s market nearby. If the butcher’s don’t already have it they can likely get it for you in a few days. If you’re going that route you may want to inquire about getting some duck fat too to use for the confit instead of olive oil. (The duck fat will preserve better.)

Ingredients

• 3-4 legs of duck confit
• 1lb garlic sausage (preferably a mild French sausage)
• 1lb pork belly (can substitute with uncured bacon or prosciutto)
• 1 ham hock
• 2lbs dry white beans such as navy or great northern, soaked overnight in cold water
• 1 large onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 carrots (peeled)
• 1 bay leaf
• A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• A few sprigs of fresh thyme
• A few stems of fresh rosemary
• 5 pieces of fresh white bread
• 4 tbsp of butter
• 1tsp pepper
• Butcher’s twine and rinsed cheesecloth

Instructions

1. Take cheesecloth, and create a bundle of 6 or 7 stems parsley, half the thyme and all of the garlic, rosemary and bay leaf. A few whole cloves could also be added. Tie bundle with butcher’s twine.
2. In a large cast iron enameled pot cover beans, ham hock, carrots, onion and bundle created in previous step with 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes or until beans are tender but not falling apart.
3. When beans are finished, skim top of liquid then transfer to a large bowl, reserve cooking liquid in another. Discard garlic, onion, carrots, ham hock and herb bundle.
4. Roast confit in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, then remove meat from bones and shred. See confit photo.
5. In the enameled pot render the fat from 2-3 pieces of bacon.
6. Remove bacon, brown sausages in bacon fat, but do not cook completely. Slice finished sausages into 1/4 rounds.
7. Line the bottom of the pan with uncooked bacon, as if making a crust.
8. Cover layer of bacon with layer of beans, then sausage, then another layer of beans, then duck confit, then final layer of beans, sprinkling thyme, chopped parsley and a pinch of pepper between each layer.
9. Add cooking liquid from the beans until there is an inch or two covering the dish. If the cooking liquid is not enough just add cold water.
10. Place assembled cassoulet in 350 degree oven for two hours.
11. In a food processor add bread, remaining parsley and butter and combine to the consistency of a breadcrumb mixture.
12. Cover top of cassoulet with breadcrumb mixture and cook for another hour at 425 degrees, until golden brown and bubbling.
13. Let dish stand for 5-10 minutes to absord liquid.

Cassoulet can be served on it’s own, or with a small salad and some crusty white french bread. An alternate serving suggestion is to roast a few cloves of garlic, rub them on slices of crusty bread, place bread in the bottom of a bowl and serve cassoulet over top.

See the finished product on Flickr.