Cassoulet takes a lot of time and ingredients (some hard to find) and uses lots of pots and pans. So why make it? Thats easy. Cassoulet is one of the most delicious dishes youll ever have. Plus, its great for honing your observational skills, since no two cassoulet are the same, and the times I give are only a guide.
Chef John's Cassoulet Ingredients
1 pound Tarbais beans, or other white beans, soaked overnight
3 quarts seasoned chicken stock or broth
4 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
6 sprigs thyme
6 unpeeled garlic cloves, cut in half
Reserved bones from duck confit and pork, if available
12 ounces fresh pork shoulder or chop, cut into 2-inch pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1? pounds Toulouse sausages, or other garlic pork sausage
2 duck leg confit
1 cup diced onion
cup diced carrot
cup diced celery
cup tomato paste
cup white wine
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups plain dry bread crumbs
cup chopped Italian parsley, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons rendered duck fat
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup cooking liquid
How to Make Chef John's Cassoulet
Rinse soaked beans and drain.
Pour broth into a large pot. Add chopped pancetta, bones from duck confit, and the drained beans. Tie bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme sprigs, and garlic into a small square of cheesecloth to create the bouquet garni; add to the pot. Stir. Bring to a simmer over high heat; skim foamy scum that forms, if desired. Reduce heat to low until beans are almost tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
Sprinkle pork pieces with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; brown the pork pieces, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add sausage to the skillet and cook in the same oil, turning until nicely browned on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes. Cut sausages in half and transfer to bowl with pork pieces.
Remove fat and skin from duck confit and add them to the same skillet. Cook over medium heat until fat is rendered, about 3 minutes. Transfer all fat and browned pieces from the skillet to a mixing bowl. Add melted butter. Stir in bread crumbs and chopped parsley; stir until mixture looks like damp sand. Mix in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup broth.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place onions, carrots, and celery in the same skillet used to brown the meats; add pinch of salt. Cook and stir over medium heat until onions are translucent and mixture turns golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in tomato paste; cook and stir until tomato paste starts to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pan, 3 or 4 minutes. Pour in white wine; cook and stir until most of the wine evaporates, 5 or 6 minutes. Remove from heat.
Drain beans over a large bowl to retain all the cooking liquid. Remove bones and bouquet garni.
Place drained beans in large shallow baking dish or cast iron skillet (about 12 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep). Stir in cooked vegetables and about 1 cup broth. Add pork pieces and distribute evenly among the beans. Top with the shredded duck confit. Nestle the sausage halves into the bean mixture.
Ladle cooking liquid into the baking dish until beans are nearly submerged. Spread bread crumb mixture evenly over the top but dont press into the liquid. Use your fingertips to make gentle indentations on the crumb surface for better browning.
Bake in preheated oven until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 2 hours. Remove from oven and create a small "well" in the center of the cassoulet crust. Ladle about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid (or as needed) into the well to rehydrate mixture. Use a fork to gently poke into the cassoulet to ensure the liquid is fairly evenly distributed but try not to disturb the crusty surface.
Continue baking until cassoulet surface is crispy and caramelized, the meat is fork tender, and the beans are creamy and tender, about 30 to 45 more minutes.
Serve in large bowls with a spoonful or 2 of hot cooking liquid. Top with chopped fresh parsley.
Chef John's Cassoulet Nutritions
Calories: 712.1 calories
Carbohydrate: 64 g
Cholesterol: 107.1 mg
Fat: 28.7 g
Fiber: 2.6 g
Protein: 44.8 g
SaturatedFat: 10.3 g
ServingSize:
Sodium: 2342.6 mg
Sugar: 6.2 g
TransFat:
UnsaturatedFat:
Chef John's Cassoulet Reviews
This was wonderful Served for a French wine tasting dinner. Expensive and time consuming, but so worth it Wish I could have found more authentic sausages, but found Aidells garlic and gruyere, which seemed fine. Great company dinner, as it is hands off towards the end. I added a bit of garlic to the duck fat/cracklings to add to the bread crumb mixture. After simmering the bacon in the stock, I removed it and did not add to the dish, as all flavor had been cooked out. Had extra duck stock and pork stock from the freezer to add to the bean cooking liquid. Cant go wrong with extra flavor. Not too salty at all.
It took a couple of attempts to dial this in. I made the duck confit as a separate event and had it in the freezer so that helped but it was still a lot of steps but worth it.
This is a complex recipe and I learned a lot I used flageolet beans which are smaller than Tarbais, so I kept an eye on them and reduced cooking time. Substituted browned boneless chicken thigh chunks for duck confit (sadly), but used the bones from chicken and pork chop in the cooking broth. The crumb topping is amazing, but baking the cassoulet uncovered left mine a bit on the dry side despite ladling in more liquid at the halfway point. (I did halve the recipe so mine wasnt as deep). Next time I might cover for the first half of baking, then uncover to finish because the carmelization of the crust is just sensational. Thank you again, Chef John
Rock star recipe and yes i used every pan in the kitchen. The local butcher/sausage maker provided the sausage on request. It makes a huge difference. Make the stock in advance, it will save you time and its always good to have a good stock in the pantry.
I loved everything about this recipe What I loved the most is that it extracts and utilizes every bit of flavor from every ingredient and method possible. Bones from the confit? Fat and skin from the confit? Juice from the beans? All utilized to bring every bit of flavor into this dish. Is this a simple preparation? Not even close But the challenge of it yields such amazing results. This recipe is something every budding home cook should try and then do their best to master. Bravo, Chef John ...this is a masterpiece
This was my first time making cassoulet and I was very nervous. The ingredients are expensive and the process is time consuming. That being said, it was worth it I doubled the recipe and served it to 12 friends (who dont mind being my test subjects for new recipes) and it was a huge hit. I made the recipe pretty much as it was written. I did borrow a few ideas from a recipe provided by Dartagnan, I made the confit of duck legs per a recipe from Dartagnan. They were fantastic, plus the process provided me with an abundance of duck fat to be saved and used for other purposes. I used Tarbais beans (which were so creamy and delicious). When I cooked the beans, in addition to the seasonings, pork butt and pancetta I added the duck leg bones. Grab every little bit of flavor where you can, right. That recipe had me put the pork butt and pancetta in with the beans. The meat was distributed well throughout the dish. The dinner was on a Friday evening so I started the recipe early (Sunday for the duck legs, Tuesday for the beans and ragu, Wednesday to construct the cassoulet). I do think the additional time to let the flavors meld was a positive with the flavor of the dish. In addition, it gave me a good opportunity to skim off any fat that collected on the top of the dish. The crumb topping was great. I did use the duck skin to make duck bacon bits created by crisping it. OMG what a pop of flavor. I think the recipe is absolutely great as is. I will make it
Absolutely delicious As he says, its a lot of work, but also a lot of fun to make. Truly a great cooking project and well worth the effort - I will certainly make it again. Thanks Chef John
Wow. What an ambitious recipe Couldnt find duck confit, so I substituted sauted chicken thighs, but I also used Rancho Gordo cassoulet beans, which I believe really helped make up the ingredient quality differential. This dish is truly a labor of love, but its worth it because all your care is returned once its done. This is something Ill add to my forever repertoire for sureits the perfect way to warm up after a chilly day.
This is an amazing recipe...it does take time, but the results are fantastic. Thank you Chef John....you make me look like an amazing chef every time
Wow Incredible flavor.
We went to the south of France this summer and when we tried the cassoulet I knew I had to make it at home. Im so glad I tried chef Johns version because it was AMAZING. The only substitution I had to use was turkey legs in place of the duck confit as I could not find duck legs anywhere. I made the turkey confit using duck fat and it turned out really well so if you cant find duck try the turkey. Be sure to follow the steps closely and monitor the salt levels as you go. This took me a long time to make the first time but I anticipate a shorter prep time next time since I wont have to read the recipe and steps so many times Make this if youre up for a challenge Bon apptit
This is perfect Dont change a thing Ive made this many times before I knew about Chef John, but this is the best and the simplest, well, sort of.
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