Cheat's French Cassoulet - Crock Pot or Le Creuset

"This great Cheat's recipe has all the elements of a traditional French Cassoulet - assorted meats, beans, carrots, tomatoes, wine & tomatoes - but is very easy & does not include Confit d'Canard if you find that difficult to obtain. However, you need to get hold of high meat content sausages to give it a more authentic taste. I have given a few variations at the bottom of the recipe; this recipe works extremely well in a Crock pot as well as the more traditional Le Creuset casserole dishes. French comfort food at it's best! Serve with mashed potatoes & crisp Savoy Cabbage. This recipe can be easily doubled for bigger or hungry crowds of diners! NOTE on BEANS: I use tinned/canned beans or pre-soaked and cooked beans in this recipe; for uncooked beans, you will need to soak them overnight and then boil them; then increase the cooking time by about 15 minutes. This was posted as a "Cheat's" recipe, meaning cutting a few corners if you don't have time - i.e. use tinned beans!! P.S. I have a sausage recipe posted: Recipe #190045 that would work well with this recipe."
 
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photo by Jonathan Melendez photo by Jonathan Melendez
photo by Jonathan Melendez
photo by Jonathan Melendez photo by Jonathan Melendez
photo by Jonathan Melendez photo by Jonathan Melendez
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by Rita1652 photo by Rita1652
Ready In:
3hrs 30mins
Ingredients:
15
Serves:
4-6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Heat olive oil in a large skillet - fry the bacon until nearly crisp & then add the onions, garlic, & carrots. Cook over a high heat until they are just soft on the outside & turning a golden colour. Drain well & remove from pan. Add to crock pot or Le Creuset casserole dish.
  • Add sausages and brown - remove & add to onion mixture.
  • Add pork chop pieces & brown - remove and add to above mixture.
  • Make up chicken stock and add wine. Mix tomatoes in with stock & teaspoon of sugar.
  • Pour stock and tomatoes over the cassoulet in crock pot or le creuset - add bouquet garni & give everything a good stir!
  • Add the beans and stir well again.
  • Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and cook for up to 6 hours on high in crock pot or in le cresuet for 3 hours in a slow oven with the lid on, 150C/300°F.
  • Half an hour before serving, take lid of le creuset to brown the top. It's difficult to brown in a crock pot, but it's not that essential to brown the top, as the reason behind the breadcrumbs is to soak up some of the juice & make a crust on top! If your crock pot is the type which you can put under the grill, then do so!
  • Serve with mountains of fluffy mashed potatoes & stir-fried Savoy Cabbage.
  • NOTE ON SAUSAGES:

  • Try to use very good quality high meat content sausages; in France Toulouse sausages are mainly used - they generally have a meat content of at least 85%. Good quality English style sausages are also good - I have a recipe posted for some English sausages: Recipe #190045.
  • However, any kind of sausage can be used and in the past I have used: Choritzo, Italian Style, Chipolatas etc.
  • The Pork chops can be replaced with chicken pieces, lamb steaks or Confit D'Canard - preserved duck, if you are lucky enought to have some!

Questions & Replies

  1. Recipe says it is in US measurements, but it is in grams? Also, wondering if there another version of this where the ingredients are in order? thanks in advance!
     
  2. How can I make this ahead of time?
     
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Reviews

  1. I have heart disease so converted this to a heart healthy recipe. I used turkey bacon (had to use a little extra olive oil), turkey sausage and boned skinless chicken thighs. I cooked my own beans (tinned are high in sodium) and used extra garlic (not only good for the heart but delicious!). Served this up with a fabulous salad and some crusty whole grain bread! We didn't feel like we were missing anything, this dinner felt like a "cheat nite".
     
  2. This cassoulet was superb. I did do a few things differently. I had no bouquet garni so I use 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp parsley and a bayleaf which worked out perfectly. After I was done browning the pork chops I deglazed the pan with the red wine mixture before putting it in the crock pot. Also, I used a tin of cherry tomatoes in place of the plain tomato. I used white kidney beans for the bean. The bread crumbs on top got mixed in during cooking in the crock pot, so I couldn't brown the top but it didn't seem to matterb because it was still delicious. Served it with mashed potatoes and "carmelized butternut squash" from this website.
     
  3. Fantastic! I did a lot of research before undertaking Cassoulet, and in the end I decided to base it on your recipe. The only thing I varied was the type of meat - I used a large ham hock, two duck breasts (browned in a pan beforehand to remove fat), some diced ham, and a chorizo sausage. I served it with sautéed savoy cabbage and a fresh homemade baguette. It was fattening, but soooo good! Thanks for a great recipe :)
     
  4. It was my first time making cassoulet and this recipe made it easy. I used a 2-qt dutch oven and, hot Italian sausages, and chicken thighs. The recipe calls for about 1 lb of sausages, but I used three sausages instead (about 10oz) and about three chicken thighs (about 12oz) and it was plenty of meat. I cut the carrots in diagonal slices for nicer presentation. I also added quartered mushrooms, which I sauteed separately and added to the pot This recipe definitely tasted good (what wouldn't with all that meat, red wine, and herbs?), but I only wish it looked more appealing in color. It was all very brown and even the breadcrumbs were a dark brown, not a golden crust like I imagined. I made fresh bread crumbs by cutting 1-in cubes of a big loaf (including crust) and mixing with olive oil combined with dried herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary, and/or basil). Then bake flat on a sheet at 400 degrees for about 10 mins or until crispy then smashing with a rolling pin in a ziploc bag with no air. I served the cassoulet with the rest of the bread from the loaf I used for breadcrumbs, as well as mashed garlic red potatoes. This recipe is worth the wait for it to cook.
     
  5. I've never had cassoulet before and so this was my first time making it. WOW. Everything was delicious. The meat and sausages were tender and the sauce was incredible. Will definitely be making this again!
     
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Tweaks

  1. I substituted chicken for the pork and it turned out wonderful!<br/>I didn't add as much wine as called for (personal preference) , but the taste was still excellent. It may not be "traditional", but in today's life, you take the shortcuts where you can! I don't think it affected the flavor using said shortcuts.<br/>My grandsons loved it. Thanks for posting.
     
  2. I've used other recipes for Cassoulet before but I like this one for it's simplicity. However, I simply cannot use a recipe without playing around with it. I'd like to suggest the following variations, with all due respect to the author, of course. Finely diced Chorizo to replace the bacon. The addition of a finely sliced stick of celery. Herbes de Provence and a handful of torn flat leaved parsley instead of bouquet garnis. An extra squeeze of tomato puree. A handful of cocktail pickled silverskin onions. Demerara sugar. I used English pork and herb sausages, prefried and quartered and pork loin chops cut into three or four pieces. Delicious!
     
  3. This cassoulet was superb. I did do a few things differently. I had no bouquet garni so I use 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp parsley and a bayleaf which worked out perfectly. After I was done browning the pork chops I deglazed the pan with the red wine mixture before putting it in the crock pot. Also, I used a tin of cherry tomatoes in place of the plain tomato. I used white kidney beans for the bean. The bread crumbs on top got mixed in during cooking in the crock pot, so I couldn't brown the top but it didn't seem to matterb because it was still delicious. Served it with mashed potatoes and "carmelized butternut squash" from this website.
     
  4. I made this using chicken thighs, italian sausage and tomato juice instead of chopped tomatoes. I skipped the breadcrumbs (okay I forgot the breadcrumbs), and passed on the potatoes and noodles, but did serve homemade artisan bread instead. I will definitely make this again.
     
  5. Oooh, we adored this, FT! I made in my crock pot w/ the following changes...my sausages were andouille for an extra kick and instead of pork chops, I used chicken legs. Sadly I didn't have confit de canard, but I really want to try it without the fancy ingredients and it was hearty, comforting and perfect for a Sunday dinner. I also added a few ribs of celery and an extra can of beans. After 6 hours, I stuck my crock pot insert into the oven like you suggest and did a panko, parmesan and parsley topping and let it get crusty for 30 minutes. Merci infiniment, FT, it was truly divine and will make again and again!
     

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<p><strong><span>The sunflowers in the field behind my house in SW France:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Sunflowers src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/DSCN8221.jpg alt=Sunflowers width=640 height=480 /><br /><strong><span><br /><br />I am British (English-Scottish), but I was born in South Africa and have lived all over the world, including Hong Kong, Germany, Cyprus, USA &amp; Singapore. I have also been very fortunate to have travelled extensively over the years.........I still have wanderlust! <br /><br />I used to be an English Literature &amp; Art History teacher &amp; lecturer; before that, I trained and worked as a Graphic Designer for many years. I now live in France with my husband &amp; my daughter who has just started university in September 2006. We also have one very chatty Burmese cat Willow, who allows us to live with her here! 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