Cassoulet à la maison

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Originating in the south of France, cassoulet is a slow-cooked casserole of white beans and various meats named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole. This cassoulet recipe from the Galvin brothers is classic French cuisine at its best, packed with confit duck, lamb, pork and juicy Toulouse sausages.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Method

1
In separate bowls of cold water, soak the dried beans and ham hock for 12 hours, changing the bean water three times during this period. Drain them both and set aside
2
In a large frying pan, heat 30g of the duck fat over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook slowly until caramelised, about 10-15 minutes
3
Reduce the heat, add the garlic and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the mixture is close to a puréé consistency. Remove from the heat and set aside
4
In another large saucepan, place the drained haricot beans, pork rind, ham hock, carrots, onion quarters, bay leaves and thyme. Cover with water, about an inch above the beans. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 1 hour
5
Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquor, and place into a large bowl. Discard the herbs and onion quarters and remove the bone from the ham hock, reserving the meat
6
Chop the pork rind very finely – it should be close to a purée consistency – and stir into the beans along with the picked ham hock meat and reserved onion and garlic mixture
7
Heat half of the remaining duck fat in large saucepan, over a high heat. Once hot, add the sausages and cook until browned all over. Remove the sausages and leave to drain on kitchen paper, then cut into 4cm thick slices
8
Heat the remaining duck fat in the same pan. Add the lamb and cook until caramelized all over. Season well with salt and pepper, remove from the pan and drain
9
In a large earthenware cassoulet dish, spoon in 1/3 of the bean mixture. Add the lamb shoulder in an even layer, and cover with another 1/3 of the bean mixture. Add the slices of sausages, duck confit and back bacon rashers, then add the final 1/3 of the bean mix
10
Pour enough reserved bean cooking liquor over the top so that everything is just covered
11
Preheat the oven to 160℃/gas mark 3
12
Cook for 1 hour and then check the level of liquid. If it has almost evaporated, moisten with more cooking liquor, or boiling water
13
You will need to repeat this process several times until a crust has formed on top of the cassoulet. This will take 2 1/2–3 hours
14
The cassoulet is ready when the crust is deeply caramelised and a knife goes through the beans easily when inserted. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve

Chris and Jeff Galvin have spearheaded the revival of high quality French bistro cuisine in the UK, offering affordable luxury, family hospitality and ingredient-led, seasonal menus across their restaurant empire.

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