Best 4 White Bean Cassoulet Recipes

facebook share image   twitter share image   pinterest share image   E-Mail share image

## **The Delectable White Bean Cassoulet: A Culinary Journey Through French Tradition**

Embark on a delightful culinary adventure with the timeless French dish, White Bean Cassoulet. This hearty and flavorful stew, originating from the rustic region of Languedoc, has captivated taste buds for centuries. Prepared with tender white beans, a symphony of aromatic herbs, and a rich broth infused with succulent meats, this classic cassoulet guarantees a symphony of flavors that will transport you to the heart of France. Join us as we unveil the secrets behind this beloved dish, presenting a collection of carefully curated recipes that cater to diverse dietary preferences. From the traditional meat-based cassoulet to a lighter vegetarian version and even a tantalizing vegan rendition, our comprehensive guide ensures that every palate finds its perfect match. Prepare to indulge in a culinary masterpiece that epitomizes French comfort food at its finest.

Let's cook with our recipes!

SAUSAGE AND WHITE BEAN "CASSOULET"



Sausage and White Bean

An easy Sausage and White Bean Cassoulet that can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Categories     Bean     Onion     Tomato     Sauté     Quick & Easy     Casserole/Gratin     Sausage     Winter     Parsley     Gourmet

Yield Serves 2

Number Of Ingredients 14

4 sweet Italian sausage links (about 10 ounces total), skins pricked all over with a fork
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 medium onions, halves and sliced thin lengthwise (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 1/2 teaspoon mixed chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and/or sage or 3/4 teaspoon mixed dried herbs, crumbled
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chopped scallion greens or fresh parsley (wash and dry before chopping)
a 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes including juice
19-ounce can white beans such as cannellini, navy, or Great Northern, drained and rinsed
For topping
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 slices firm white sandwich bread, crusts discarded, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 small garlic clove, chopped fine
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves (wash and dry before chopping)

Steps:

  • In a medium skillet cook sausages in oil over moderate heat, turning them, until browned on all sides and cooked through, about 8 minutes, and transfer to paper towels to drain.
  • In fat remaining in skillet cook onions and garlic, stirring, until golden, and stir in herbs (including bay leaf), scallions or parsley, tomatoes with juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Boil mixture, stirring, 5 minutes. Cut sausage into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Add sausage and beans to tomato mixture and cook, stirring, until heated through. Discard bay leaf and keep "cassoulet" warm, covered.
  • Make topping:
  • In a small skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté bread until pale golden. Stir in garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste and sauté, stirring, 1 minute.
  • Transfer "cassoulet" to a 1-quart serving dish and cover evenly with topping.

WHITE BEAN CASSOULET



White Bean Cassoulet image

Provided by Food Network

Categories     main-dish

Time 1h15m

Yield 6 to 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 26

1/2 cup olive oil
10 cloves garlic, diced
1 medium white onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 herb bouquet tied with kitchen string: 4 stems fresh rosemary, 8 stems fresh oregano, 10 stems fresh thyme
1 dried bay leaf
2 cans cannellini beans, or 3 cups prepared white beans
2 quarts chicken stock
4 links spicy cooked chicken Italian sausage, sliced, recipe follows
1/2 cup Spinach Pesto, recipe follows
Garlic-Parmesan Crostini, recipe follows
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 spicy chicken Italian sausage
1/2 pound spinach leaves
5 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh white pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 French style baguette, cut into 24 (1/2-inch thick) slices
10 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan

Steps:

  • Heat the oil in a medium stock pot. Add the vegetables to the oil, stir frequently, and cook until lightly brown around the edges. Add remaining ingredients, except sausage, 1 at a time. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir in sausage and allow to cook for 10 more minutes. Place in bowls, spoon 1 tablespoon of pesto and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sausage into each bowl. Serve with Garlic-Parmesan Crostini.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season the sausage with salt, to taste, and carefully place in a single layer across the skillet. Cook the sausage for 3 to 5 minutes over medium-high heat or until browned. Turn the sausages and repeat on opposite side. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice into 1/4-inch slices.
  • Combine all ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  • Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat. Brush the garlic oil on the top and bottom of each slice of bread. Place the bread in a single layer over a sheet pan. Sprinkle each slice with parmesan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes on the middle oven rack until bread browns over the top. Serve.

SAUSAGE AND WHITE BEAN CASSOULET



Sausage and White Bean Cassoulet image

Provided by The Hearty Boys

Categories     main-dish

Time 3h

Yield 10 to 12 servings

Number Of Ingredients 16

2 pounds dried great Northern beans
1 pound duck sausage
2 onions, 1 diced, 1 left whole
3 carrots, 2 sliced 1/4-inch thick, 1 left whole
4 thyme sprigs
6 bay leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound thick sliced center cut bacon, cut into 2-inch pieces
10 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound kielbasa, sliced 1/2-inch thick
2 cups red wine
2 cups beef broth
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
Crusty baguette, for serving

Steps:

  • Wash the beans well and put them in a large stockpot. Add water to the beans to cover by 2 inches and set over high heat. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, remove from the heat, cover and let stand 1 hour.*
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  • Put the duck sausage on a baking sheet and place it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and let cool. The sausage will not be fully cooked through.
  • Add the whole onion, whole carrot, 2 of the thyme sprigs and 3 of the bay leaves to the beans. Add more water to the pot to cover again by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and let simmer until the beans are mostly tender but with still a little bite to them, about 50 to 60 minutes. The beans will have soaked up all most all of the liquid you cooked them in.
  • Meanwhile, pour the olive oil into a large skillet and place over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook stirring every now and then until crispy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove the crispy bacon pieces to a paper towel lined plate and reserve. To the same skillet, add the diced onion, sliced carrots and garlic and sweat the mixture for 20 minutes, until the onion begins to turn translucent.
  • Slice the duck sausage on the bias into 1/2-inch thick pieces and add them to the vegetable mix. Add the remaining bay leaves, thyme sprigs and sliced kielbasa and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Next add the wine, beef broth, tomato paste and salt and pepper. Raise the heat to high, bringing the mixture to a boil. Stir well to dissolve the tomato paste and lower the heat. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Remove the whole onion and carrot from the beans, add the vegetable sausage mixture to the stockpot and return to a low heat. Stir well and cover. Let the cassoulet simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until most of the wine mixture has been absorbed by the beans. Spoon into a casserole dish, sprinkle the top of each serving with some of the reserved crispy bacon and serve with a crusty baguette on the side.

WHITE BEAN, SAUSAGE, DUCK CONFIT CASSOULET (DAVID LEBOVITZ)



White Bean, Sausage, Duck Confit Cassoulet (David Lebovitz) image

Number Of Ingredients 14

4 cups Dried Beans
2 pounds Ham Hock
1 3/4 cups Pancetta (or unsmoked pork belly)
2 stalks Carrots (peeled)
2 pieces Onions (halved)
6 cloves Garlic
2 pieces Bay Leaves
10 sprigs Thyme
1 tablespoon Sea Salt
4 pieces Duck Confit (thigh & leg)
1 pound Italian Sausage, mild (or pork sausage)
2 pieces Black Pepper, freshly ground
1 cup Fresh Bread Crumbs
3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Steps:

  • Rinse the beans and sort for debris. Soak them overnight covered in cold water.
  • The next day, put the ham hock in a separate large pot of water, bring it to a boil, decrease the heat to a steady simmer, and cook for about 2 hours, until the meat is tender and pulls easily from the bone. Remove the ham hock from the water and set it on a plate. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, shred it in large, bite-size pieces, and refrigerate it. Discard the liquid.
  • Drain the beans; put them in the pot you used to cook the ham hock and cover with cold water. Add the ham bones to the pot of beans along with the diced pork belly, carrots, onions, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring the beans to a boil, decrease the heat so the beans are simmering gently, and cook until the beans are soft and tender, about 1 hour, or longer, depending on the beans. As the water boils away during cooking, add more water as necessary. Taste the beans toward the end of cooking, add up to 1 tablespoon of salt, if necessary.
  • While the beans are cooking, scrape any excess fat from the duck confit pieces (save it for making duck fat-fried potatoes, page 220) and fry them in a skillet over medium heat until they're golden brown and crisp on both sides, 5 to 8 minutes per side. (If using the Counterfeit duck confit on page 179, the duck will already be browned and ready, so there's no need to recook it for this step.)
  • Transfer the duck pieces to a plate and pour off any excess duck fat from the pan. Prick the sausages a few times with a sharp knife, then fry the sausages just to brown them on the outside; they don't need to be fully cooked through. Set the sausages on the plate with the duck pieces. When cool enough to handle, cut the sausages on the diagonal into 2-inch pieces. Cut each duck thigh into three pieces; cut the drumstick off, and then use a knife to divide the thigh portion into two equal pieces, cutting it in half by holding the knife parallel to the bone.
  • Transfer the duck pieces to a plate and pour off any excess duck fat from the pan. Prick the sausages a few times with a sharp knife, then fry the sausages just to brown them on the outside; they don't need to be fully cooked through. Set the sausages on the plate with the duck pieces. When cool enough to handle, cut the sausages on the diagonal into 2-inch pieces. Cut each duck thigh into three pieces; cut the drumstick off, and then use a knife to divide the thigh portion into two equal pieces, cutting it in half by holding the knife parallel to the bone.
  • Puree the onion and garlic in a blender or food processor with a bit of the bean liquid until smooth. Stir the mixture back into the bean mixture, season with pepper, and taste, adding more salt if desired. (Some pork products are quite salty, so at this point, you can adjust the salt to your taste.)
  • Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) with an oven rack to the top third of the oven.
  • In a wide casserole that holds at least 8 quarts (8l) or a roasting pan, assemble the cassoulet. Ladle a layer of the bean mixture and some of the liquid into the casserole. Put half of the duck pieces and half of the sausage evenly spaced over the beans. Add another layer of beans, and then put the rest of the duck and sausage pieces over the beans. Top with the remaining beans and enough of the liquid so that the beans are just barely floating in the liquid. (Refrigerate any extra bean liquid, as you may need it later. Or if there isn't enough bean liquid, add a bit more water, just enough to moisten the beans.)
  • Toss the bread crumbs with the oil until thoroughly moistened, then spread the bread crumbs evenly on top of the cassoulet. Bake the cassoulet for 1 hour. After an hour, use the side of a large spoon or a heatproof spatula to break the crust on top in several places. Decrease the oven temperature to 250°F (120°C) and bake the cassoulet for another 2 ½ hours, breaking the crust two more times while cooking. Remove the cassoulet from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes. If you want to serve the cassoulet reheated, as many prefer it, let it cool to room temperature for 1 ½ hours, and then refrigerate it.
  • To serve the cassoulet reheated, remove the cassoulet from the refrigerator 1 hour before you plan to reheat it. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Break through a piece of the top of the cassoulet, and if you don't see much liquid surrounding the beans beneath the surface, add some of the reserved bean liquid (or warm water)-just enough to moisten the insides a little, about ½ cup (125ml). Bake the cassoulet for 1 ½ hours, or until it's completely heated through. If the topping isn't crusty, turn the oven up to broil-if you're using a ceramic dish, turn the oven just to 450°F (230°C), or whatever maximum heat is indicated by the manufacturer-and watch carefully until the top is browned to your liking. Remove the cassoulet from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes. Serve the cassoulet in its dish at the table. It requires no other accompaniment, although a glass of Armagnac after (or in place of ) dessert is considered obligatory to aid digestion. As is a pat on the back for making the cassoulet.

Tips:

  • Soak the beans overnight: This will help them cook more evenly and reduce the cooking time.
  • Use a variety of beans: This will give your cassoulet a more complex flavor and texture. Great northern beans, navy beans, and cannellini beans are all good choices.
  • Don't overcook the beans: They should be tender but still hold their shape.
  • Use a good quality sausage: This is the key to a flavorful cassoulet. Look for a sausage that is made with pork shoulder or leg and has a good balance of fat and meat.
  • Don't skimp on the herbs: Herbs add a lot of flavor to cassoulet. Use a variety of fresh herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves.
  • Let the cassoulet rest before serving: This will allow the flavors to meld and deepen.

Conclusion:

White bean cassoulet is a hearty and flavorful dish that is perfect for a cold winter day. It is easy to make and can be tailored to your own taste. So next time you are looking for a comforting and delicious meal, give white bean cassoulet a try.

Related Topics