Cassoulet

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 5-quart bean pot
• •Lidded ovenproof sauté pan or 3-quart cocotte
• •4-quart cassole or deep ovenproof cocotte
• •Kitchen twine
• •Slotted spoon and ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the pork rind

   Rinse and pick over the beans. Prepare the fresh pork rind through Blanchings (No. 273), then cool and drain it as that preparation directs. Roll the rind tightly and secure it with kitchen twine so it can season the bean liquor without wandering through the pot. Keep the sheet as intact as possible because it will later line the cassole.

2. 2

   Begin the beans

   Put the beans in a heavy 5-quart pot with the cold water, ¾ teaspoon (about 5 g) of the salt, the carrot, the half onion stuck with the clove, the bouquet garni, three crushed garlic cloves, and the tied pork rind. Bring slowly to a boil, skim away the grey foam, then cover partially and hold at the gentlest simmer for 1 hour. Keep the beans just submerged, adding boiling water only when needed. A hard boil bursts their skins and muddies the liquor; if the pot becomes lively, lower the heat at once and shake it gently instead of stirring.

   The bean liquor is the foundation of both the mutton braise and the final basting. Keep it clean, gently seasoned, and plentiful.
3. 3

   Brown the mutton gently

   Heat the lard in a lidded ovenproof sauté pan or small cocotte. Fry the mutton shoulder and breast gently in batches until lightly browned on several sides, leaving room between the pieces. Transfer the meat to a plate, then pour away roughly half the fat while preserving the amber fond on the pan floor. Add the chopped onion and crushed garlic and cook until the onion takes only a slight golden colour. If the fond begins turning black, lower the heat and add a spoonful of water before it burns; bitterness cannot be hidden beneath beans.

4. 4

   Braise the mutton

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Stir the tomato purée into the onions for 1 minute, return the mutton, and ladle in enough cooking liquor from the bean pot to cover the meat, about 1½ to 2 cups (350 to 475 ml). Replace any liquid taken from the beans with boiling water so they remain submerged. Cover the mutton and braise in the oven for at least 1½ hours, until the shoulder yields readily to a fork. Check once during cooking; if the liquid recedes below the meat, add another ladleful of hot bean liquor.

5. 5

   Add pork and sausage

   As soon as the beans have completed their first hour, settle the pork belly and whole garlic sausage into their pot. Add only half the remaining salt, keeping the rest back until the liquor has reduced and the sausage has given up its seasoning. Continue at a bare simmer for 45 to 60 minutes, until the beans are creamy within but still hold their skins. If the pork or sausage is ready before the beans, lift it out and continue cooking the beans alone. Ça se rattrape; meat can wait, hard beans cannot be hurried into tenderness.

6. 6

   Finish the components

   Lift out the pork belly, sausage, and pork rind. Discard the carrot, clove-studded onion, and bouquet garni. Cut the pork belly into small dice and the sausage into thick roundels. Untie and open the rind. Taste the bean liquor and add only as much of the remaining salt as it needs. When the mutton is tender, lift out the pieces and reserve every drop of its tomato-darkened braising liquor.

7. 7

   Layer the cassoulet

   Line the bottom and sides of a 4-quart cassole or deep ovenproof cocotte with the pork rind, skin side against the vessel. Build alternating layers of beans, mutton, diced pork belly, and sausage roundels, finishing with beans. Pour in enough combined bean and mutton liquor to rise just below the top layer, about 1½ cups (350 ml), keeping at least 1 cup (240 ml) hot for basting. The contents should shift when the dish is nudged but must not float. Scatter the breadcrumbs evenly over the surface.

8. 8

   Form the gratin

   Finish according to Gratins (No. 268), baking the uncovered cassoulet at 325°F (165°C) for about 1 hour. Every 15 to 20 minutes, baste dry patches with a few spoonfuls of the reserved hot bean liquor, then let the crust form again before the next basting. This repeated crust is the dish. If the edges dry before the top bronzes, pour hot liquor down the side; if the cassoulet remains soupy after 50 minutes, stop basting and give it another 10 to 15 minutes. If the crumbs darken too quickly, shield that patch loosely with parchment. Ça se rattrape.

   Baste with restraint. You are feeding the beans beneath the crust, not washing the crust away.
9. 9

   Rest and serve

   Let the cassoulet rest for 15 minutes. The liquor settles into the beans, the crust firms enough to serve, and the pork rind leaves its gelatinous richness through the whole dish. Bring the cassole directly to the table and spoon deeply so every serving receives crust, beans, and each meat. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose Tarbais beans when you can find them. Their thin skins and creamy centres suit the long cooking, but good Great Northern beans are an honest substitute. Old beans may need additional time, so judge tenderness rather than obeying the clock.
• •This entry calls for mutton, not young lamb. Mutton gives the braise a darker, fuller character and stands up to the pork and garlic sausage. Ask the butcher for shoulder and breast cut into small pieces; if only older lamb is available, the cassoulet will be gentler but still structurally sound.
• •Fresh pork rind is structural. It contributes gelatin, protects the beans against the vessel, and enriches the liquor without adding smoke. A butcher can usually provide it, or trim a clean sheet from a piece of skin-on fresh pork belly.
• •Fine dry breadcrumbs are the home equivalent of the book's raspings. Do not use coarse fresh crumbs, which drink too much liquor before they brown.
• •Serve with a firm red from Languedoc, such as Corbières or Minervois, and a bitter green salad afterward. Cassoulet has already made its argument; the rest of the table can remain simple.

Advance Preparation

• •The beans, pork, sausage, and mutton can be cooked one day ahead. Cool the meats and beans separately in their liquors, refrigerate within two hours, then warm them gently before layering so the final bake begins evenly.
• •A fully baked cassoulet keeps for up to three days under refrigeration. Reheat it covered at 325°F (165°C) until hot through, loosen the edges with reserved bean liquor or water if needed, then uncover for 15 minutes so the crust returns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 600g)