Grant Hilliard’s Cassoulet

Cassoulet is the kind of dish that makes the cook appear brilliant.

Cassoulet. Picture: Alan Benson.

A slow-cooked peasant dish originating in the south of France and named after the earthenware pot in which it was cooked, cassoulet is a rich, nurturing, one-pot wonder of beans and meat that is delicious in winter, but just as good in warmer months with a crisp green salad and wine. The core ingredients usually include pork sausages, cured pork, confit duck and beans but there are many variations. This is the one we’ve made for years at Feather & Bone, with great success, so we’re sticking to it.

Cassoulet

300g fresh, tinned or dried organic borlotti beans

30g duck fat

1 brown onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

400g smoked pork shoulder or speck4 lamb shoulder chops (about 100g each)500ml (2 cups) duck or chicken stock

2 confit duck Marylands (from select delicatessens)

4 Toulouse sausages (or good-quality pastured pork sausages)

1 bunch Dutch carrots, trimmed and scrubbed

1 x 400g can diced tomatoes

Bouquet garni (sprigs of parsley, thyme, sage and bay leaves tied together with kitchen string in a small bunch)

60g (1 cup) sourdough breadcrumbs made from day-old bread

1 handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

Leafy green salad, to serve

-

If using dried borlotti beans, soak them in cold water overnight. Rinse, transfer to a saucepan and top with cold water, then bring to the boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes or until they start to soften. Cool and refrigerate until needed.

Preheat oven to 150°C. In a large heavy-based ovenproof saucepan with a lid, melt 2 tablespoons duck fat over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until soft and just starting to colour. Add smoked pork or speck and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes until slightly softened. Remove mixture from pan and set aside.

Increase heat to high, season lamb with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and fry, turning halfway, for 5 minutes or until browned on both sides. Add onion mixture, stock, confit duck, sausages, carrots, tomatoes and bouquet garni. Stir to combine, season well with salt and pepper, and top with beans. The contents should be just covered with liquid; if not, add a little water. Add half the breadcrumbs, then cover with a lid and bake for 1½-2 hours or until beans are cooked and lamb is completely tender and pulls easily away from the bone.

Remove the lid, toss remaining breadcrumbs with parsley and scatter on top. Bake for 15 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden. Serve with a crisp, green leafy salad. Serves 4-6

Grant Hilliard is co-owner of Feather and Bone meat providores in Sydney. Edited extract from The Ethical Omnivore, by Laura Dalrymple and Grant Hilliard (Murdoch Books, $39.99). Photography: Alan Benson