Description
Ina Garten’s cassoulet brings hearty French countryside flavors to your dinner table. Layers of tender duck, rich sausage, and creamy white beans create a comforting one-pot meal you’ll savor with each memorable bite.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 lbs (1.36 kg) boneless lamb leg or pork shoulder
- 1 lb (454 g) Polish or bratwurst sausage
- 4 duck or chicken legs, cut into 2 pieces
- 1 lb (454 g) navy beans, soaked overnight
- 1 ½ cups large dice Spanish onions
- 1 ½ cups large dice carrots
- 1 ½ cups large dice celery
- 4 fresh tomatoes, large dice
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 5 cups water or chicken bouillon
- 6 bay leaves
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup fresh marjoram leaves, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup + 1/8 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 2 tbsps clarified butter
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preparation: Preheat oven to 375°F. Crisp poultry skin until golden, then crumble with breadcrumbs, olive oil, and thyme to create a textured topping.
- Meat Searing: Heat clarified butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Brown duck, lamb, and sausage until developing a rich caramelized exterior. Transfer meats to a roasting pan.
- Vegetable Foundation: In the same skillet, caramelize onions, carrots, and celery. Deglaze with red wine and water, adding diced tomatoes. Bring liquid to a rolling boil to intensify flavors.
- Slow Roasting: Drain pre-soaked navy beans and combine with herb-infused vegetable mixture. Pour over arranged meats in roasting pan. Cover and roast for 3 hours, allowing meats to become incredibly tender and flavors to meld completely.
- Finishing Technique: Remove meats and strain cooking liquid. Partially puree bean mixture to create a rich, velvety sauce. Season appropriately. Reassemble by layering sliced meats over beans, sprinkle reserved crispy skin topping, and briefly broil until topping turns golden and crisp.
Notes
- Prep Skin Strategically: Remove excess poultry skin beforehand to create a crispy, flavorful breadcrumb topping that adds incredible texture to the final dish.
- Master Meat Searing: Use a heavy-bottomed skillet and medium-high heat to develop a perfect golden-brown crust on duck, lamb, and sausage, which locks in deep, rich flavors.
- Slow-Roast for Tenderness: The 3-hour low-temperature roasting process transforms tough meats into meltingly tender bites, ensuring maximum flavor infusion.
- Sauce Technique Matters: Partially pureeing bean mixture creates a luxuriously thick sauce that binds all ingredients together, elevating the overall dish’s complexity and mouthfeel.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5
- Calories: 550
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 900 mg
- Fat: 30 g
- Saturated Fat: 12 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 18 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 10 g
- Protein: 40 g
- Cholesterol: 120 mg