Ingredients
| FOR THE BACON HOCK & BEANS | |
| ½ teaspoon baking soda | |
| 1½ cups (approximately 300g) dried white beans (I used navy beans) | |
| 1 bacon hock | |
| 2 bay leaves | |
| 1 onion, peeled | |
| 1 carrot | |
| LAMB SHANKS | |
| 1 tablespoon oil | |
| 2 lamb shanks | |
| 1 celery rib, chopped | |
| 1 onion, chopped | |
| 1 carrot, chopped | |
| 1 head of garlic | |
| TO ASSEMBLE & COOK | |
| 3 tablespoons olive oil (or duck fat if you have it) | |
| 2 Toulouse-style pork sausages, cut into 2cm-thick pieces | |
| 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary | |
| 1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme | |
| 1 cup dried panko or breadcrumbs |
A slow-cooked meal of beans with sausages and meat is the essence of cassoulet, the southern French dish named after the earthenware dish it is cooked in. Usually made with white haricot beans, the meats vary but often include confit duck, coarse pork sausage, salted pork and sometimes lamb. Finished in the oven and sometimes topped with a crumb, it’s a rich, heart-warming dish.
As a nod to our national love of lamb I’ve used lamb shanks and a smoky bacon hock to give a deeper and richer flavour, but you could use any slow-cooking cut.
There is no denying that a cassoulet is a time-consuming beast; but it’s mostly hands off, so treat it as a contemplative exercise. Because it is so component based it is easy to prepare ahead before combining. However there are some slighter faster shortcuts here that I’ll mention in the recipe.
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Instructions
| 1. | BACON HOCK & BEANS |
| 2. | Dissolve the baking soda in plenty of water. Add the beans and soak overnight. |
| 3. | The next day put the bacon hock in a large pot with water, bring up to a boil, drain then rinse. |
| 4. | Cover again with fresh water and add all the ingredients except for the beans. |
| 5. | Bring up to a simmer, skimming any scum and cook for 2 hours. |
| 6. | Drain and rinse the soaked beans and add to the pot. |
| 7. | Cook until the beans are just tender but still holding together, around 1 hour. |
| 8. | Top up with water throughout cooking if necessary to keep it covered. |
| 9. | Remove and discard the bay leaves, onion and carrot. |
| 10. | Remove the hock and shred the meat when cool enough to handle. |
| 11. | Discard the bones. This can be done a day or two ahead and kept refrigerated. |
| 12. | SHORTCUTS PRESSURE COOKER I often cook shanks and beans in my electric (Instant Pot) pressure cooker as it makes for tender and creamy beans. |
| 13. | I cook the bacon hock as above with 3 cups water and a dash of olive oil on high pressure for 20 minutes, do a natural release and then add the beans and cook for 8 minutes with a natural release. |
| 14. | TOTAL CHEAT Yes you could use 3 cans of white beans, drained and rinsed. |
| 15. | Instead of using bacon hock try frying 200g of bacon lardons or even some cubes of pork belly after frying the pork sausages. |
| 16. | LAMB SHANKS |
| 17. | In a saucepan, heat the oil and brown the lamb shanks, seasoning them well with salt. Remove from the pan and set aside. |
| 18. | Add the celery, onion and carrot to the pan and fry for a few minutes. |
| 19. | Add the garlic, lamb shanks and 1 litre water (or enough to cover). |
| 20. | Bring to a simmer and cook until tender, approximately 1-1½ hours. |
| 21. | Allow to cool. When cold enough to handle, remove the garlic and squeeze out the flesh and set aside. |
| 22. | Shred the lamb and set aside the liquid and the lamb and vegetables. This can be made a day or two ahead. |
| 23. | SHORTCUTS PRESSURE COOKER Brown the lamb shanks and vegetables as above (either in a frying pan or use the sauté function on the pressure cooker) then add 500ml water. |
| 24. | Cover and cook for 35 minutes, do a natural release for 15 minutes, then open the vent to remove any remaining pressure. Then proceed with the recipe. |
| 25. | TOTAL CHEAT You could fry cubes of lamb leg steaks when you fry the pork sausages. |
| 26. | Then fry the vegetables and layer into the cassoulet. |
| 27. | TO ASSEMBLE & COOK |
| 28. | Heat the oven to 160°C. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the sausage until browned. |
| 29. | Mix the mashed garlic with 1 tablespoon fat or oil and the rosemary and thyme and smear on the inside of a casserole dish with at least a 3-litre capacity. |
| 30. | Drain excess cooking liquid from the beans, reserving the cooking liquid. |
| 31. | Add the bacon hock, drained beans, lamb and vegetables. I like to scatter the sausages over the top. |
| 32. | Add 750ml of the lamb stock (if necessary top up with some of the bean liquid). Keep the remaining bean liquid (for soups or stews). |
| 33. | Mix the bread crumbs with the remaining oil or fat and sprinkle half the crumbs over the top. |
| 34. | Bake for 2 hours, stirring the crumb into the beans after an hour, then sprinkling over the remaining crumbs and cook until golden. |
| 35. | Allow to cool slightly and serve with a crisp green salad, ideally made with a few bitter greens such as endive, watercress or rocket to cut through the richness. |
| 36. | This can be made ahead and reheated over low heat, adding some of the extra bean water if required. |
Recipes & food styling Ginny Grant / Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Jessica Crowe