Ingredients :
• 2 tin of haricot blanc/coco beans (or the equivalent quantity of dried beans, which have been soaked and boiled with herbs, garlic and onion until soft. I use the dried version because of the taste they get from cooking in the flavoured water, but this is a lot more hassle than opening a tin!).
• Either a cast iron casserole pot , or a frying pan and a glass or ceramic casserole pot. The advantage of the cast iron option is that you can do all the cooking in the one pot.
• 4 Toulouse sausages.
• 4 strips of pork belly, 0.5-1cm thick.
• 4 duck legs, cooked (Ideally 'confitted' - cooked in duck fat for a couple of hours - but fried or roasted is fine).
• 1 onion, finely chopped.
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed.
• A good dollop of tomato purée or 3 fresh tomatoes, chopped.
• Olive oil, butter and/or a little duck fat.
• A pint of water or, preferably, chicken stock.
What to do:
The key to my easy cassoulet is not lots of stages and processes, but to cook it for long enough for the liquid and fat to emulsify completely, and a crispy crust has formed.
• In either the cast iron pot or a frying pan, heat a couple of glugs of olive oil with a nugget of butter and/or a nugget of duck fat.
• Fry the sausages and pork (and duck if you haven't already cooked it and if you want extra duck fat).
• Take the meat out, and gently fry the onions until they are soft.
• Stir in the tomatoes or purée and the garlic. You could add a glug of white wine at this point. (If you are using a frying pan, now put it's contents into the casserole dish.)
• Put the meat in the pot, pour in all the beans, top up with the water or stock, to just cover the other ingredients.
• Lid on, cook the stew in a medium oven for at least 1 hour. Stir it occasionally and top up with water or stock to keep it moist. When the cassoulet is cooked, it should not have any see-through liquid coming out of it, but everything should be coated in creamy goodness. Generously season according to your taste, and put back in a hot oven, uncovered, for 10 - 20 minutes, until a crispy crust has formed.
• Serve with a green salad and a crisp white wine or strong red. And crusty french bread, if you can handle more food.
