Cassoulet might seem like a simple meat and bean dish – but it isn’t! It’s a national obsession for the French. Some like it cooked the Carcassonne way or the Toulouse way, some like the Castelnaudary style dish as in this traditional recipe – with thanks to the Castelnaudary Tourist Office for sharing it.
INGREDIENTS
350 to 400g dried beans ingot type (preferably Lauragais)
2 duck or goose legs confit, cut in two
4 pieces of 80g pure pork sausage known as 鈥渇rom Toulouse鈥�
4 pieces of 50g pork caught in the shank, shoulder or chest
250 g pork rind half of which will be used after cooking to assemble the cassoulet
a little salted bacon
1 poultry carcass or a few pork bones
onions and carrots
For 4 people
The day before: Soak the dried beans overnight in cold water.
The next day : Drain this water, put the beans in a saucepan with three liters of cold water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, drain the water and reserve the beans.
Proceed to preparation of broth with again 3 liters of water (non-limestone and from Castelnaudary if possible), the rinds cut into wide strips, a poultry carcass if you have it or a few pork bones and, according to your taste, a little onion and carrots. Season with salt and pepper (generously). Cook this broth for 1 hour then filter the broth and collect the rinds.
In this filtered broth put the beans to cook until they are soft but remain intact. For this you need about 1 hour of boiling.
While the beans cook 鈥� Preparing the meats:
In a large saut茅 pan, make degrease the pieces of confit over low heat then set aside.
In the remaining fat brown the sausages from Toulouse then reserve them.
Brown the pieces of pork which should be golden brown and reserve them with the other meats.
Drain the beans and keep the broth warm. Add to the beans a few cloves of garlic and double the weight of salted bacon crushed together.
Assembly of the Cassoulet:
For this we will use the hollow terracotta dish which was called 鈥渃assolo鈥� (today 鈥渃assole鈥�) and which gave its name to cassoulet, or failing that a fairly hollow terracotta dish suitable for the oven.
Line the bottom of the saucepan with pieces of rind,
Add about a third of the beans,
Arrange the meats and pour the rest of the beans on top,
Arrange the sausages by pushing them into the beans, the tops of the sausages must remain visible,
Complete the casserole pouring the hot broth which should just cover the beans,
Pepper at the mill on the surface and add a tablespoon of duck fat used to brown meats.
To cook :
Place in the oven 150掳/160 掳 (Thermostat 5 or 6) and cook for 2 to 3 hours.
During cooking, a golden brown crust will form on top of the pan, which will have to be pushed in several times (the ancients said 7 times).
When the tops of the beans begin to dry, add a few spoons of broth.
If you prepare this cassoulet the day before, it will need to be reheated in the oven at 150掳 for an hour and a half before serving. Don’t forget to add a little broth or, failing that, a few spoonfuls of water.
And a last bit of advice from La Grande Confr茅rie du Cassoulet de Castelnaudary – “Very important! The cassoulet should be served bubbling in its saucepan. Serve it delicately without stirring it, it will be better and don’t hesitate to add more. It’s a dish that will take you to the paradise of popular gastronomy!”
Recipe from
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