Cassoulet (French White Bean and Sausage Casserole)

About This Recipe

Cassoulet is one of France's great regional casseroles, hailing from the southwest (with rival versions from Toulouse, Castelnaudary, and Carcassonne all claiming authenticity), built on white beans slow-cooked with sausage, pork, and often duck confit, then baked uncovered so a crust forms on top -- traditionally broken and folded back into the beans several times during baking, a technique called 'crouter.' It's a dish of genuine regional pride and rich culinary history. The technique that defines cassoulet is the crust-and-fold method: as the casserole bakes uncovered, a golden skin forms on the surface of the beans, which is periodically broken with a spoon and pushed back down into the liquid, allowing a new crust to form -- repeated several times over hours of baking, this builds layers of flavor and texture that a single bake could never achieve. The beans should be cooked with the meats from the start, absorbing their rendered fat and flavor throughout the slow braise rather than being combined only at the end. Served bubbling hot straight from the baking dish, cassoulet is substantial, cold-weather feast food -- the kind of dish that takes real time and is meant to be shared among a table of people over a long, unhurried meal.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 500 gdried white beans(soaked overnight)
• 4 piecesduck confit legs(or substitute pork shoulder)
• 400 gpork shoulder(cubed)
• 300 gToulouse sausage or garlic sausage
• 150 gbacon or salt pork(diced)
• 1onion(studded with 2 cloves)
• 2carrots(whole)
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 1bouquet garni (thyme, bay, parsley)
• 400 gcrushed tomatoes
• 4 cupschicken stock(or as needed)
• 1 cupbreadcrumbs(for topping)
• 1 tspsalt(or to taste)

Instructions

1. 1

   Render the bacon

   Cook bacon or salt pork in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until fat renders, about 5 minutes.

2. 2

   Brown the meats

   Add pork shoulder and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside. Brown sausage separately, then slice.

3. 3

   Cook the beans

   Add soaked beans, onion, carrots, garlic, and bouquet garni to the pot with the rendered fat. Cover with stock and bring to a simmer.

4. 4

   Simmer

   Simmer 1 hour, partially covered, until beans are nearly tender. Remove onion, carrots, and bouquet garni.

5. 5

   Combine

   Stir in crushed tomatoes, browned pork shoulder, sliced sausage, and duck confit. Season with salt.

6. 6

   Bake

   Preheat oven to 150C/300F. Transfer everything to a large baking dish, top with breadcrumbs, and bake uncovered 1.5-2 hours.

7. 7

   Fold the crust

   Every 30-40 minutes, break the golden crust that forms and push it back into the beans, adding more breadcrumbs on top each time.

8. 8

   Serve

   Let the final crust form and serve bubbling hot straight from the dish.

Variations

• •

  Cassoulet de Toulouse uses Toulouse sausage and duck or goose confit as the signature meats.

• •

  A simpler home version can use just pork shoulder and sausage if duck confit isn't available.

• •

  Add a few slices of garlic sausage on top in the last 20 minutes for extra texture.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days in an airtight container; cassoulet is famous for tasting even better reheated the next day. Reheat covered in a 160C/325F oven for 30-40 minutes. Freezes well up to 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions