Garbanzo Cassoulet

Submitted by Kumquat the Cats fr

"Posted for Zaar World Tour 2005. Cassoulet (bean stews with herbs) ingredients vary widely all over France. This is a mediterranean version. I made this with 1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs and 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs) and was quite pleased with the outcome! I've changed instructions to accomodate canned chick peas instead of dried. Beans, sauce and topping are made separately but concurrently before being combined at the end. From Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 45mins
• Ingredients: 19
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• Beans

• 2 (850.48 g) can chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved, and rinsed
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 small onion, peeled but left whole
• 236.59 ml cubed carrot
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 sprig fresh parsley

• Sauce

• 29.58 ml olive oil
• 236.59 ml chopped onion
• 14.79 ml finely minced garlic (or to taste)
• 6 plum tomatoes or 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 473.18 ml tomato sauce, mediterranean (purchased or homemade)
• 14.79 ml lemon juice
• 4.92 ml sugar (to taste)
• 4.92 ml dried basil
• 4.92 ml dried thyme
• salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• Topping

• 29.58 ml olive oil
• 473.18 ml dry breadcrumbs
• 118.29 ml fresh parsley, chopped

directions

1. BEANS.
2. Put chick peas in large pot and add water to cover. Stick cloves in whole onion and add to pot along with carrots, garlic and parsley sprigs.
3. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until carrots are tender.
4. Drain and discard the onion with cloves and parsley sprigs. Set aside.
5. SAUCE.
6. In large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until onion becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.
7. Stir in the fresh tomatoes. Add tomato sauce, 1 1/2 cups of reserved bean liquid, lemon juice, sugar, basil and thyme. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.
8. TOPPING.
9. In medium skillet, heat olive oil over high heat. Add 1 cup of the bread crumbs and fresh parsley and cook, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute.
10. Remove pan from heat, transfer to a bowl and mix in remaining 1 cup of bread crumbs. Set aside.
11. AT LAST.
12. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Combine beans and sauce in deep oven-proof casserole or baking dish.
13. Sprinkle 1/3 of bread crumb mixture on top and bake for 15 minutes.
14. Push bread crumb layer down into beans with back of spoon and sprinkle with 1/3 of bread crumb mixture and bake for 15 minutes.
15. Repeat with last 1/3 of bread crumb mixture, and bake for 10 minutes.
16. Finally, place cassoulet under broiler for 5 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[Dreamer in Ontario]

I loved this dish. I pretty much followed the recipe using Panko for the breadcrumbs. I only deviated from the recipe because I ran out of time before having to leave for work and had to refrigerate the beans and the sauce (separately) overnight before completing the cooking. Since the dish was cold it needed to be baked a bit longer in the oven before broiling. Made for the Europe on a Plate tag game in Kittencal's Kitchen.

 

[KristinV]

I absolutely ADORED the filling for the recipe. The breadcrumbs were a bit much for our tastes but we did use cheap, storebrand, unflavoured breadcrumbs. I would have loved to use Panko or to make fresh breadcrumbs; I think it would have boosted the recipe to 5 stars! Hopefully I will make again with these changes so I can re-evaluate. Fantastic recipe Kumquat! Made for ZWT5 Family Picks

 

[VegSocialWorker]

Yumm! I cooked the chickpeas from scratch, had less carrots and used fresh basil, but otherwise kept to the recipe. The sauce is so delicious- I'll probably use that again for other recipes. This is filling and makes a lot, so we'll be eating leftovers in lunches. I would probably use less bread crumbs next time just for my own personal taste, but it is quite lovely just like this. Thanks for posting, this is a keeper.

 

[KateL]

4 Stars, because DH was not as excited by this recipe as I was, even as I described the excellent taste with better nutrition compared to a baked bean recipe he liked with tons of sugar and bacon. I would give 5 stars, if it were just me. This is definitely a weekend dish, as I am slow at prep work. I was confused by "tomato sauce, mediterranean" and used Classic Spicy Tomato and Basil, although I think the originator was referring to another of her recipes. My selection tasted great in my opinion. As you can tell by my photos, the end result is very thick. Made for Veg*n Swap.

 

[Chef Kate]

I loved this too. It's an ethereal version of baked beans and, like Ladypit, I didn't miss meat or cheese in this. I used roma tomatoes and pureed tomatoes, and used fresh instead of dried herbs. Really good!