Sausage cassoulet recipe

Joanna Weinberg
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Sausage cassoulet recipe

You could easily double the quantities here for a winter feast – great for Bonfire Night or Hallowe’en. It’s extremely hearty, so a peppery green salad is all you’ll need on the side. If you don’t want to soak the beans yourself, or can’t start the night before, replace them with 2 tins of drained beans on the day.

At a glance
  • Cuisine French
  • Recipe Type Main
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Preparation time 15 mins
  • Cooking time 190 mins
  • Serves 4 people
Ingredients
  • 275 g (9.7oz) dried cannellini or haricot beans
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 8 good-quality chunky pork sausages
  • 160 g (5.6oz) smoked pancetta, cut into 1cm strips
  • 2 onions, roughly chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled and flattened
  • 227 g (8oz) tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 0.5 tsp paprika
  • 0.25 ground coriander
  • 1 heaped tablespoon soft dark brown sugar
  • 600 ml (21.1fl oz) boiling water
  • 60 g (2.1oz) fresh white breadcrumbs
  • 1 cup peppery green salad leaves, to serve

Step-by-step

  1. Put the dried beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside, and leave to soak overnight.
  2. The next day, when you are ready to cook, discard any discoloured beans or ones that float to the top, drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 140°C/gas 1.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a flameproof casserole and fry the sausages and pancetta until golden and well coloured; set aside.
  4. Add the onions to the casserole and cook for 5–10 minutes until softened and golden. Add the garlic a few minutes before the end.
  5. Return the sausages and pancetta to the casserole and add the remaining ingredients, apart from the breadcrumbs. Bring just to the boil, cover and bake for 2 hours. Check occasionally to make sure it’s not drying out and add more water if necessary.
  6. After 2 hours, remove the lid, sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and bake for a further hour until the beans are tender and the top is golden and crunchy. Serve with a peppery green salad.

Recipe taken from Cooking for Real Life by Joanna Weinberg, published by Bloomsbury, £25.

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