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Serves: 10–12
Serving suggestions: Serve with simple green salad and baguette
Ingredients
1kg (2-500g packages) Cullen’s Foods organic Navy Beans
1 tablespoon salt
1 large leek, trimmed, split and washed
1 large onion, peeled and stuck with 2 whole cloves
1 large carrot, peeled and cut in half
3 cups fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bouquet garni – 2 bay leaves, 2 tsp dried thyme, 5 sprigs fresh parsley, tied with cheesecloth
1-500g piece of pancetta
4 cups low-salt chicken broth
6 cups cold water
3 garlic sausages
4 duck legs (or chicken legs)*
1.5kg boneless pork shoulder roast*
2 teaspoons salt – or to taste
2 teaspoons pepper – or to taste
4 slices stale country bread, processed into breadcrumbs in a food processor
*OPTIONAL: Traditional cassoulet has a variety of meats; however, beans with pancetta and sausage is equally delicious. If using optional meats, begin cooking while beans are cooking:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season duck (or chicken) and pork with salt and pepper. Set side by side in a roasting pan and roast for 1-1/2 hours.
Method
Put beans in a 10-quart heavy enameled casserole. Add salt, leek, onion, carrot, tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, bouquet garni, pancetta, stock and cold water. Bring slowly to a boil, skimming off froth. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours.
Prick the sausage with a fork, add to the beans and cook for 15 minutes longer.
When beans are cooked (not mushy), turn off the heat. Lift the sausage, pancetta, onion, carrot, leek, and bouquet garni from the casserole onto a baking sheet. Discard the onion, carrot, leek and the bouquet garni.
When meats are cooked, pour 1/2 cup of the fat from the roasting pan into a measuring cup and set aside. Discard any remaining fat and deglaze the pan by adding 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid from the beans to the pan and bringing to a boil, stirring to melt all the solidified cooking juices. Add the liquid to the beans.
Cut sausage into 3/4" thick slices. Slice pancetta into strips 1/2" wide by 3" long. Slice pork roast lengthwise in half and then into 1" thick slices. Remove the meat from the duck (or chicken) and cut into bite-sized pieces.
Transfer the beans to another container, then layer ingredients in the casserole, starting with 1/3 of the beans, followed by alternating layers of each of the meats and more beans, ending with beans. Moisten breadcrumbs with the reserved fat (or butter) and spread over the beans.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until a crust forms on top. Break the crust and push it into the beans with a large spoon, then continue cooking another 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and rest 10 minutes before serving.
