How To Make Cassoulet Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S QUICK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Add bacon to a large, cold oven-ready skillet. Place over medium heat and cook for 10-12 minutes, until almost crisp. Transfer to a bowl, reserving the grease in the pan.
• Stir in sausage slices; cook 3-4 minutes. Add chicken thigh pieces; cook and stir for 5 minutes, until browned. Remove meat to the plate with bacon. Discard all the oil, but don't wipe out the pan.
• Add chopped onion and turn the heat to medium-low; cook and stir for 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add 1 cup of chicken stock.
• Mash about 1/4 of the beans in a small bowl, stir all the beans into the pan.
• Stir in cayenne, rosemary and thyme. Add reserved meat back to the pan. Stir in remaining cup of stock or more if needed to cover. Return to simmer.
• Mix bread crumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano and melted butter together in a small bowl.
• Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 7 inches from the heat source.
• Sprinkle the cassoulet with half the bread crumb mixture. Place under the broiler and cook about 5 minutes, until browned.
• Remove the pan and push bread crumbs down into the cassoulet. Top with remaining bread crumb mixture. Return to oven and continue broiling 5 more minutes, until browned.
• Turn off the broiler and leave in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and let sit for 5 minutes. Enjoy.

QUICK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic; cook and stir for a few minutes, until the onion is transparent. Add the sausage to the skillet, and cook for a few more minutes to brown.
• Pour in the kidney beans, cannellini beans and tomatoes, and season with the bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper. Cover, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender.
• Remove bay leaves and discard. Sprinkle parsley over the top, and serve.

CASSOULET FOR TODAY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a broiler-safe Dutch oven, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat; brown chicken on both sides. Remove from pan., In same pan, saute onion in remaining oil over medium heat until crisp-tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute. Add wine; bring to a boil, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Add tomatoes, herbs and chicken; return to a boil., Transfer to oven; bake, covered, 30 minutes. Stir in beans and kielbasa; bake, covered, until chicken is tender, 20-25 minutes longer., Remove from oven; preheat broiler. Discard bay leaf; stir in bacon. Toss bread crumbs with parsley and garlic; sprinkle over top. Place in oven so surface of cassoulet is 4-5 in. from heat; broil until crumbs are golden brown, 2-3 minutes.

TRADITIONAL CASSOULET

Steps:

• Preheat the oven: Set an oven rack to the center and preheat the oven to 300°F.
• Bake the cassoulet: Cover the Dutch oven with a lid and set it in the oven. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes without opening the lid.

CASSOULET

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with the water and bring to a boil. Add the beans, bring back to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the beans soak in the warm water for 1 hour.
• Place the slab of bacon, one third of the onions, and the bouquet garni bundle in the pot with the beans and bring to a simmer, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Simmer, uncovered, for about 1 1/2 hours, or until beans are just tender, adding water if necessary to keep the beans covered while cooking. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid, saving the bacon, and discarding the herb bundle.
• Cut the lamb into 2 inch chunks, removing excess fat, and pat dry. Pour the duck fat into a heavy, 8 quart casserole, and heat until almost smoking. Brown the meat, in batches, on all sides, and set aside. Lower the heat, add the remaining onions, and saute until golden, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the pureed garlic, tomato puree, thyme, and bay leaves, and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Add white wine and reduce by half.
• Return the lamb to the casserole along with the brown stock, salt and pepper, and stir well. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer slowly for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until fork tender.
• Remove the meat and reserve. Remove all but 2 tablespoons fat and adjust the seasonings.
• Pour the cooked beans into the lamb cooking juices. If necessary, add the bean cooking liquid so that the beans are well covered. Bring to a simmer, cook for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking juices.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Slice the bacon into 1/4 inch pieces. Arrange a layer of beans in the bottom of the casserole, then continue with alternating layers of lamb, and duck, ending with a layer of beans. Pour enough of the meat and bean cooking juices over the top so the liquid comes just to the top layer of beans. Mix the bread crumbs with the parsley and spread over the top. Drizzle with the duck fat.
• Bring the casserole to a simmer on the stove, then place it in the oven. After about 20 minutes, when the top has a light crust on it, turn the oven down to 350 degrees F. Break the crust with a spoon and baste the casserole with the liquid. Bake for about 40 more minutes, and continue to baste as the crust reforms, but leave a final crust for serving. Serve warm from the casserole.

HOW TO MAKE CASSOULET

Steps:

• Soak Great Northern beans in water in a large bowl overnight. Drain beans and place into a large soup pot. Push whole clove into the 1/2 onion and add to beans; stir in garlic, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and 10 cups water. Bring beans to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat until beans have started to soften, about 1 hour. Drain beans and reserve the cooking liquid, removing and discarding onion with clove and bay leaf. Transfer beans to a large mixing bowl.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cook bacon in a large, heavy Dutch oven over medium heat until lightly browned and still limp, about 5 minutes. Stir celery, carrots, and 1/2 diced onion into bacon; season with salt. Cook and stir vegetables in the hot bacon fat until tender, about 10 minutes.
• Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat; brown sausage link halves and duck confit in the hot oil until browned, about 5 minutes per side.
• Season vegetable-bacon mixture with 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, cracked black pepper, and herbes de Provence; pour in diced tomatoes. Cook and stir mixture over medium heat until juice from tomatoes has nearly evaporated and any browned bits of food on the bottom of pot have dissolved, about 5 minutes. Stir mixture into beans.
• Spread half the bean mixture into the heavy Dutch oven and place duck-sausage mixture over the beans; spread remaining beans over meat layer. Pour just enough of the reserved bean liquid into pot to reach barely to the top of the beans, reserving remaining liquid. Bring bean cassoulet to a simmer on stovetop and cover Dutch oven with lid.
• Bake bean cassoulet in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add 4 crushed garlic cloves, panko crumbs, and parsley to the melted butter. Season with salt and black pepper, and drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over crumbs. Stir to thoroughly combine.
• Uncover cassoulet and check liquid level; mixture should still have several inches of liquid. If beans seem dry, add more of the reserved bean liquid. Spread half the crumb mixture evenly over the beans and return to oven. Cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes. There should be about 2 or 3 inches of liquid at the bottom of the pot; if mixture seems dry, add more reserved bean mixture. Sprinkle remaining half the bread crumb mixture over cassoulet.
• Turn oven heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and bake cassoulet, uncovered, until crumb topping is crisp, edges are bubbling, and the bubbles are slow and sticky, 20 to 25 more minutes. Serve beans on individual plates and top each serving with a piece of duck and several sausage pieces.

CASSOULET

Steps:

• The night before cooking, marinate the meat and soak the beans. For meat: In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except fat and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight. For beans: In a large bowl, combine beans, 1 teaspoon salt and enough cold water to cover by 4 inches. Cover and let sit overnight.
• The next day, roast the meat: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Pour fat over meat in the bowl and toss to coat. Spread meat in one even layer on a rimmed baking sheet, leaving space between each piece to encourage browning (use two pans if necessary). Top meat with any fat left in bowl. Roast until browned, about 1 hour, then turn pieces, cover with foil, and continue to roast until soft, another 1 1/2 hours. Remove meat from baking sheet, then scrape up all browned bits stuck to the pan. Reserve fat and browned bits.
• Meanwhile, cook the beans: Drain beans, add them to a large stockpot and cover with 2 inches water. Add bouquet garni, celery, carrot, 2 garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons salt and the pepper. Stick whole clove into the folds of the onion half and add that as well. Bring to a boil and then simmer over medium heat, stirring often, until beans are cooked through, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, adding garlic sausage after 30 minutes. When beans are cooked, remove bouquet garni and aromatics, including vegetables. Reserving cooking liquid, drain the beans and sausage.
• While beans are cooking, bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add salt pork. Simmer for 30 minutes, remove and let cool. Cut off skin, then slice pork into very thin pieces and reserve.
• Heat a very large skillet (at least 12 inches) over medium heat and add a drizzle of duck or other fat. Add fresh pork sausages and cook until well browned on all sides, about 20 minutes. Remove to a plate and reserve, leaving any sausage fat in skillet.
• In same skillet over medium-high heat, add 1/4 cup of the reserved fat and the browned bits from the roasted meat. Add diced onions, carrots and celery, and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add 9 whole garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, another 2 to 4 minutes. Add tomato purée, season with salt to taste, and simmer until thickened to a saucelike consistency, 5 to 10 minutes, if necessary. Add cooked beans and stir to combine. Remove from heat and reserve.
• Assemble the cassoulet: Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large Dutch oven, lay salt pork pieces in an even layer to cover the bottom of the pot. Add a scant third of the bean and garlic sausage mixture, spreading evenly. Top with half of the roasted meat pieces, 2 pork sausages and 2 duck legs. Add another scant third of the bean mixture, and top with remaining meat, sausages and duck legs. Top with remaining beans, spreading them to the edges and covering all meat. Pour reserved bean liquid along the edges of the pot, until liquid comes up to the top layer of beans but does not cover. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top and drizzle with 1/4 cup duck fat.
• Bake until crust is lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Use a large spoon to lightly crack the crust; the bean liquid will bubble up. Use the spoon to drizzle the bean liquid all over the top of the crust. Return to oven and bake 1 hour more, cracking the crust and drizzling with the bean liquid every 20 minutes, until the crust is well browned and liquid is bubbling. (The total baking time should be 1 1/2 hours.) Remove from oven and let cool slightly, then serve.

WINNING COUNTRY CASSOULET

Steps:

• Sort beans and rinse with cold water. In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, combine the beans, water and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; boil, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1 to 4 hours or until beans are softened. Do not drain., Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels; drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings. In the same skillet, brown chicken in reserved drippings on all sides; drain and set aside., In a 3-qt. baking dish or Dutch oven, combine the beans with cooking liquid, bacon, carrots, onion, tomatoes, celery, garlic, salt, marjoram, sage and pepper. Place whole cloves on a double thickness of cheesecloth; bring up corners of cloth and tie with string to form a bag. Add to bean mixture; top with chicken., Cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour. Uncover; add sausage. Bake 30-35 minutes longer or until beans are tender. Discard bay leaf and spice bag. Garnish with parsley.

CASSOULET

Steps:

• Put beans in a large bowl, and cover with cold water, then add baking soda, and allow to soak overnight.
• Place the pork hocks, sliced pork belly, reserved pork skin and, if using, the pig ears into a stockpot, and fill with water to cover them by several inches, then set over high heat to come to a boil. Let the meats and skin blanch for 5 to 6 minutes, then remove from the water and allow to cool. Put the slices of pork belly on a plate, then dice the pork skin and, if using, julienne the pig ears, and add these to the plate. Cover, and place in the refrigerator overnight.
• Now turn to the cooled pork hocks and the duck legs. In a small bowl, combine four-spice powder with ground cardamom, ground coriander, additional nutmeg, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Use this spice mixture to season the duck legs and the cooled pork hocks, then put them on a platter, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.
• Heat oven to 350. Melt the duck fat or duck fat and lard in a heavy, oven-safe pot deep enough to hold the duck legs, pork hocks and the three heads of garlic, then add the meats and the garlic to it, along with the bay leaves, thyme, rosemary and star anise, then place in the oven to simmer for approximately an hour and a half, or until both the duck and the pork are cooked tender and soft and the heads of garlic have almost collapsed. Remove the meats and the garlic from the fat, and allow to cool slightly. (Strain and reserve the perfumed duck fat for another use - more duck confit, say, or to cook potatoes. It will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for quite some time.)
• Drain soaked beans. Put around 5 quarts of water in a large, heavy-bottomed pot, then add the beans, along with the bouquet garni, and bring it to a boil over high heat. Lower heat to a simmer, and cook until the beans are softening but not cooked through, approximately 30 minutes. Reserve the beans and cooking liquid separately. Discard bouquet garni.
• Meanwhile, return pot to medium heat, and add to it 2 tablespoons of the reserved duck fat. When it shimmers, add the garlic sausages to the pot, and sauté until lightly browned, approximately 5 minutes, then remove and reserve. Add the diced carrots, celery, celery root, turnip and rutabaga to the pot, and sweat them slowly in the fat, stirring often, until they begin to soften, approximately 10 minutes. Add the partly cooked beans to the pot, along with the reserved diced pork skin and the ears if you're using them, then the tomato paste, and stir to combine.
• As the vegetables sweat, remove the bones from the cooled pork hocks, and squeeze the heads of garlic to release the garlic confit within. Add both to the bean pot.
• Add enough of the reserved bean-cooking water to the bean pot to just cover the beans, then nestle the duck legs, the sausages and the slices of pork belly on top of the beans. Put the pot in the oven to simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, or until the beans are cooked through.
• Increase oven heat to 450, and cook until the beans are bubbling and crusted around the edges and the meats are deeply crisp on top (about 10-15 minutes). Let rest 10 minutes or so before serving.

CHEF JOHN'S CASSOULET

Steps:

• Rinse soaked beans and drain.
• Pour broth into a large pot. Add chopped pancetta, bones from duck confit, and the drained beans. Tie bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme sprigs, and garlic into a small square of cheesecloth to create the bouquet garni; add to the pot. Stir. Bring to a simmer over high heat; skim foamy scum that forms, if desired. Reduce heat to low until beans are almost tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Sprinkle pork pieces with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; brown the pork pieces, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add sausage to the skillet and cook in the same oil, turning until nicely browned on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes. Cut sausages in half and transfer to bowl with pork pieces.
• Remove fat and skin from duck confit and add them to the same skillet. Cook over medium heat until fat is rendered, about 3 minutes. Transfer all fat and browned pieces from the skillet to a mixing bowl. Add melted butter. Stir in bread crumbs and chopped parsley; stir until mixture looks like damp sand. Mix in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup broth.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place onions, carrots, and celery in the same skillet used to brown the meats; add pinch of salt. Cook and stir over medium heat until onions are translucent and mixture turns golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in tomato paste; cook and stir until tomato paste starts to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pan, 3 or 4 minutes. Pour in white wine; cook and stir until most of the wine evaporates, 5 or 6 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Drain beans over a large bowl to retain all the cooking liquid. Remove bones and bouquet garni.
• Place drained beans in large shallow baking dish or cast iron skillet (about 12 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep). Stir in cooked vegetables and about 1 cup broth. Add pork pieces and distribute evenly among the beans. Top with the shredded duck confit. Nestle the sausage halves into the bean mixture.
• Ladle cooking liquid into the baking dish until beans are nearly submerged. Spread bread crumb mixture evenly over the top but don't press into the liquid. Use your fingertips to make gentle indentations on the crumb surface for better browning.
• Bake in preheated oven until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 2 hours. Remove from oven and create a small "well" in the center of the cassoulet crust. Ladle about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid (or as needed) into the well to rehydrate mixture. Use a fork to gently poke into the cassoulet to ensure the liquid is fairly evenly distributed but try not to disturb the crusty surface.
• Continue baking until cassoulet surface is crispy and caramelized, the meat is fork tender, and the beans are creamy and tender, about 30 to 45 more minutes.
• Serve in large bowls with a spoonful or 2 of hot cooking liquid. Top with chopped fresh parsley.

RAYMOND BLANC'S CASSOULET

Steps:

• To cut the meats, roll up the pork rind like a Swiss roll. With the seam underneath, use a very sharp knife to cut the roll across into thin slices, then chop the rolled-up slices across into dice. Chop the bacon into small cubes (lardons). Cut the garlic sausage into 1cm thick slices.
• Drain the soaked beans and discard the soaking water. Tip the beans into a large saucepan, add the diced pork rind and lardons and cover with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil and blanch for 15-20 minutes. Drain the beans, rind and lardons into a colander, and discard the cooking water.
• Roughly chop the celery, onion and carrot. Peel the garlic cloves but leave them whole. Cut each tomato into eight wedges. (You never see tomatoes in a traditional cassoulet, but chef Raymond Blanc likes them for their colour and sweetness, so he puts a couple in.) Preheat the oven to 120C/fan 100C. (If cooking in a gas oven, use mark 2.)
• Heat the goose fat or olive oil in a 26cm flameproof casserole or deep overproof sauté pan over a low heat and sweat the celery, onion, carrot and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bouquet garni and cook slowly to get a sugary caramelisation (about 5 minutes). Add the sausage, beans, pork rind and lardons and pour in 1.2 litres/2 pints water. Bring to the boil, skim off the scum, then add the salt, pepper, clove and lemon juice.
• Transfer the casserole to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring every hour. At the end of this time, the beans will be soft and creamy in texture and the juices should have thickened. You may need to cook it for longer than 2 hours (say up to 2½ hours) to get to this stage - it depends
• Remove the cassoulet from the oven. Bury the duck legs in the beans and sprinkle over the goose fat or olive oil, breadcrumbs and garlic. Return to the oven and cook for a further 2 hours. Serve the cassoulet in bowls, sprinkled with chopped parsley.

SKILLET CASSOULET

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add kielbasa, ham, carrots, celery and onion; cook and stir until sausage is browned and vegetables are tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. , Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 4-5 minutes or until heated through.

HOW TO MAKE CASSOULET

Steps:

• We may think of it as decadent, but cassoulet is at heart a humble bean and meat stew, rooted in the rural cooking of the Languedoc region. But for urban dwellers without access to the staples of a farm in southwest France - crocks of rendered lard and poultry fat, vats of duck confit, hunks of meat from just-butchered pigs and lambs - preparing one is an epic undertaking that stretches the cook. The reward, though, may well be the pinnacle of French home cooking.Cassoulet does take time to make: there is overnight marinating and soaking, plus a long afternoon of roasting and simmering, and a few days on top of that if you make your own confit. However, it is also a relatively forgiving dish, one that welcomes variation and leaves room for the personality of the cook - perhaps more than any other recipe in the canon. As long as you have white beans slowly stewed with some combination of sausages, pork, lamb, duck or goose, you have a cassoulet.The hardest part about making a cassoulet when you're not in southwest France is shopping for the ingredients. This isn't a dish to make on the fly; you will need to plan ahead, ordering the duck fat and confit and the garlic sausage online or from a good butcher, and finding sources for salt pork and fresh, bone-in pork and lamb stew meat. The beans, though, aren't hard to procure. Great Northern and cannellini beans make fine substitutes for the Tarbais, flageolet and lingot beans used in France.Then give yourself over to the rhythm of roasting, sautéing and long, slow simmering. The final stew, a glorious pot of velvety beans and chunks of tender meat covered by a burnished crust, is well worth the effort.
• Named for the cassole, the earthenware pot in which it is traditionally cooked, cassoulet evolved over the centuries in the countryside of southwest France, changing with the ingredients on hand and the cooks stirring the pot.The earliest versions of the dish were most likely influenced by nearby Spain, which has its own ancient tradition of fava bean and meat stews. As the stew migrated to the Languedoc region, the fava beans were replaced by white beans, which were brought over from the Americas in the 16th century.Although there are as many cassoulets as there are kitchens in the Languedoc, three major towns of the region - Castelnaudary, Carcassonne and Toulouse - all vigorously lay claim to having created what they consider to be the only true cassoulet. It is a feud that has been going on at least since the middle of the 19th century, and probably even longer.In 1938, the chef Prosper Montagné, a native of Carcassonne and an author of the first version of "Larousse Gastronomique," attempted to resolve the dispute. He approached the subject with religious zeal, calling cassoulet "the god of Occidental cuisine" and likening the three competing versions to the Holy Trinity. The cassoulet from Castelnaudary, which is considered the oldest, is the Father in Montagné's trinity, and is made from a combination of beans, duck confit and pork (sausages, skin, knuckles, salt pork and roasted meat). The Carcassonne style is the Son, with mutton and the occasional partridge stirred in. And the version from Toulouse, the Holy Spirit, was the first to add goose confit to the pot.The recipe for cassoulet was codified by the "États Généraux de la Gastronomie" in 1966, and it was done in a way that allowed all three towns to keep their claims of authenticity. The organization mandated that to be called cassoulet, a stew must consist of at least 30 percent pork, mutton or preserved duck or goose (or a combination of the three elements), and 70 percent white beans and stock, fresh pork rinds, herbs and flavorings.That settled the question of which meats to use. But there are two other main points of contention that still inspire debate: the use of tomatoes and other vegetables with the beans, and a topping of bread crumbs that crisp in the oven. Julia Child chose to do both, as we do here. "The Escoffier Cookbook" and "Larousse Gastronomique" give some recipes that include the tomatoes, vegetables and bread crumbs, and some that omit them. The beauty of it is that if you make your own cassoulet, you get to decide.Above, "The Kitchen Table" by Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779).
• Casserole dish You will need a deep casserole dish that holds at least eight quarts, or a large Dutch oven, to bake the cassoulet. If you use a Dutch oven, you won't need the cover. The cassoulet needs to bake uncovered to develop a crisp crust.Baking sheets All of the ingredients for a cassoulet are cooked before being combined and baked again. The meat can be cooked in any number of ways; here, the pork and lamb stew meat is roasted on rimmed baking sheets so that it browns.Large pot The beans and garlic sausage (or kielbasa) are cooked in a large pot before they are added to the casserole, though you could use a slow cooker or pressure cooker, if you have one. You will also need a second small pot for simmering the salt pork.Wirecutter, a product recommendations website owned by The New York Times Company, has guides to the best Dutch ovens and baking sheets.
• This slow-cooked casserole requires a good deal of culinary stamina. But the voluptuous combination of aromatic beans with rich chunks of duck confit, sausage, pork and lamb is worth the effort. Serve it with a green salad. It doesn't need any other accompaniment, and you wouldn't have room for one anyway.
• The hardest part of making a cassoulet may be obtaining the ingredients. Beyond that, it helps to think of cooking and building it in stages. Once you've gathered and prepared the components (the meat, beans, salt pork, sausage, duck confit and bread crumb topping), assembling the dish is just a matter of layering the elements.• You can use any kind of roasted meats for a cassoulet, and the kinds vary by region. Substitute roasted chicken, turkey or goose for the duck confit, bone-in beef for the lamb and bone-in veal for the pork. Lamb neck is a great substitute for the bone-in lamb stew meat, and you can use any chunks of bone-in pork, like pork ribs, in place of the pork stew meat. (The bones give the dish more flavor, and their gelatin helps thicken the final stew.)• Do not use smoked sausages in the beans, or substitute smoked bacon for the salt pork. The smoky flavor can overwhelm the dish, and it is not traditional in French cassoulets. If you can't find salt pork, pancetta will work in its place, and you won't need to poach it beforehand.• You can buy duck confit at gourmet markets or order it online. If you'd prefer to make it yourself, this is how to do it: Rub 4 fresh duck legs with a large pinch of salt each. Place in a dish and generously sprinkle with whole peppercorns, thyme sprigs and smashed, peeled garlic cloves. Cover and let cure for 4 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. When ready to cook, wipe the meat dry with paper towels, discarding the garlic, pepper and herbs. Place in a Dutch oven or baking dish and cover completely with fat. (Duck fat is traditional, but olive oil also works.) Bake in a 200-degree oven until the duck is tender and well browned, 3 to 4 hours. Let duck cool in the fat before refrigerating. Duck confit lasts for at least a month in the refrigerator and tastes best after sitting for 1 week.• Don't think the meat is the only star of this dish. The beans need just as much love. You want them velvety, sitting in a trove of tomato, stock and rich fat. Buy the best beans you can, preferably ones that have been harvested and dried within a year of cooking. The variety of white bean is less important than their freshness.• Bread crumbs aren't traditional for cassoulet, but will result in a topping with an especially airy and crisp texture. Regular dried bread crumbs, either bought or homemade, will also work.• When you roast the meat, leave plenty of space between the chunks of meat so they brown nicely. More browning means richer flavor. You can also use leftover roasted meat if you have them on hand.• The bouquet garni flavors both the beans and the bean liquid, which is used to moisten the cassoulet as it bakes. To make one, take sprigs of parsley and thyme and a bay leaf and tie them together with at least 1 foot of kitchen string. Tuck the bay leaf in the middle of the bouquet and make sure you wrap the herbs up thoroughly, several times around, so they don't escape into the pot.• Feel free to use a slow cooker or pressure cooker for the beans. Add the garlic sausage (or kielbasa) about halfway through the cooking time. It doesn't have to be exact, since the sausage is already cooked; you're adding it to flavor the beans and their liquid.• Use a very large skillet, at least 12 inches, for sautéing the sausages and finishing the beans before you layer them into the casserole dish. • In this recipe, the beans are finished in a tomato purée, which reduces and thickens the sauce of the final cassoulet. But you can substitute a good homemade stock for the purée. You'll get a soupier cassoulet, but it's just as traditional without the tomatoes.• The salt pork is layered in strips into the bottom of the baking dish. Then, while cooking, it crisps and turns into a bottom crust for the stew. So it is important to slice it thinly and carefully place it in a single layer on the bottom of the dish (and up the sides, if you have enough). Don't overlap it very much, or those parts won't get as crisp.• The reserved bean liquid is added to the cassoulet for cooking, and its starchiness is what keeps the stew thick and creamy. Using stock instead would make for a soupier but still delicious cassoulet.• You create a substantial top crust with crunch by repeatedly cracking the very thick layer of bread crumbs as the cassoulet cooks, and by drizzling the topping with bean liquid, which browns and crisps up in the heat. It's best to crack the topping in even little taps from the side of a large spoon. You are looking to create more texture and crunch by exposing more of the bread crumbs to the hot oven and bean liquid, which should be drizzled generously and evenly.• If you like you can skip the bread crumbs entirely, which is just as traditional. The top will brown on its own, but there won't be a texturally distinct crust.• You do not have to make the cassoulet all in one go. You can break up the work, cooking the separate elements ahead of time and reserving them until you are ready to layer and bake the cassoulet. Or assemble the cassoulet in its entirety ahead of time, without bread crumbs, and then top and bake just before serving.
• Photography Food styling: Alison Attenborough. Prop styling: Beverley Hyde. Additional photography: Karsten Moran for The New York Times. Additional styling: Jade Zimmerman. Video Food styling: Chris Barsch and Jade Zimmerman. Art direction: Alex Brannian. Prop styling: Catherine Pearson. Director of photography: James Herron. Camera operators: Tim Wu and Zack Sainz. Editing: Will Lloyd and Adam Saewitz. Additional editing: Meg Felling.
• All Chapters
• Soufflé

CASSOULET A LA MINUTE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Cut, or have the duck cut, into serving pieces. Prepare it further by cutting away the meat from the breast bone. Cut away peripheral fat surrounding the thighs, legs and breast. Reserve enough of the fat to produce two tablespoons when finely chopped and discard the rest. Cut the boneless breast meat into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Cut the thigh into four pieces. Cut the leg crosswise into 1 1/2-inch lengths.
• Cut the pork and lamb into one-inch cubes.
• Add the chopped fat to a large, heavy skillet and cook until rendered.
• Meanwhile, cut half of the sausage on the diagonal into slices measuring about 1/3-inch thick. Cut the remaining sausage into round slices of about the same thickness. Set aside.
• Add the cubed duck, pork and lamb to the skillet. Cook over high heat, stirring from the bottom, until the fat is rendered from the duck pieces. Cover and cook about 12 minutes.
• Spoon two tablespoons of this rendered fat into a separate skillet and add the onion and two teaspoons of the garlic. Cook, stirring, until wilted. Cook about five minutes and add the tomatoes, half of the thyme, one bay leaf, salt and pepper. Continue cooking about 10 minutes and add the beans. Add the round slices of sausage to this mixture and continue cooking 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, when the meats have cooked for about 12 minutes, reduce the heat and add the remaining garlic, thyme and bay leaf; stir. Add the wine and stir the bottom to dissolve the brown particles that cling to the pan. Reduce the heat, cover closely and continue cooking 20 minutes.
• Add the bean mixture to the meat mixture and stir to blend.
• Pour the cassoulet into a heat-proof baking dish (a dish measuring about 15 by 10 by 3 inches is ideal). Cover the cassoulet with a layer of diagonal sausage slices. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and melted butter.
• Place in the oven and bake 10 minutes or until ready to serve.

CLASSIC CASSOULET

Steps:

• TWO DAYS AHEAD
• Cure duck legs:
• Prick skin on duck legs all over with the tip of a paring knife. Rub legs with salt, making sure to massage into flesh and skin.
• Place legs in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto legs. Rest a plate on top of legs and weigh down with several 28-oz. cans. Chill at least 12 hours and up to 1 day.
• NOTE: If you're going to cook the beans and ragout tomorrow, soak the beans tonight. If not, just remember to soak them the day before you want to cook them.
• ONE DAY AHEAD
• Confit duck legs:
• Preheat oven to 250°F. Evenly scatter thyme, garlic, peppercorns, and juniper berries (if using) across a large baking dish or roasting pan and add 2 Tbsp. water.
• Remove duck legs from bowl. Rinse off salt and arrange legs, skin side down, over aromatics in baking dish. Cover dish tightly with foil and weigh down with a cast-iron skillet or a heavy baking dish. Bake until fat renders out of duck and legs are submerged, about 2 hours.
• Carefully remove baking dish from oven and remove skillet and foil. Turn legs skin side up and nestle back into fat. Cover dish again with foil and continue to cook legs, unweighted, until duck meat is very tender and bones wiggle easily in joints, 2-2 1/2 hours longer.
• Let legs cool in fat until you can handle them, then transfer with tongs or a spider to a plate. Strain 1/4 cup fat through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl and let cool. Cover and set aside for cooking the breadcrumbs. Strain remaining fat into an airtight container; cover and reserve for another use (like roasting potatoes).
• Remove skin from legs, trying to keep as intact as possible; transfer skin to an airtight container. Cover and chill. Pull duck meat from bones, tearing into 2" pieces; discard bones and cartilage. Place meat in another airtight container; cover and chill. You won't need the skin, meat, or fat until you're ready to assemble the cassoulet.
• DO AHEAD: Duck legs can be confited 3 weeks ahead. Transfer legs to a large nonreactive vessel; strain fat through a fine-mesh sieve over meat. Cover and chill. Let come to room temperature before using. Meat and skin can be prepared 3 days ahead; keep chilled.
• Cook the beans:
• Stick a clove into each onion half. Place in a large pot along with beans, pancetta, carrots, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf; pour in cold water to cover beans by 2". Season with several grinds of pepper [3] and bring to a gentle simmer. Partially cover pot and cook beans, skimming surface occasionally and adding more water as needed to keep beans submerged and seasoning with a couple of pinches of salt after about 30 minutes, until beans are tender but not falling apart, 45-60 minutes for cannellini and 1-1½ hours for Tarbais or corona. Remove pot from heat; pluck out and discard onion, carrots, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Transfer pancetta to a cutting board; let cool slightly, then cut into 1x1/4" pieces. Add back to pot and let mixture cool.
• Cook ragout:
• Meanwhile, sprinkle pork with 1 1/2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt and several grinds of pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high. Working in 2 batches, cook pork, turning once, until browned all over, 10-12 minutes per batch; transfer to a plate as you go.
• Reduce heat to medium and place onion, carrot, and garlic in pot; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Return pork to pot and add thyme, bay leaf, tomatoes, and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover pot, and simmer gently, skimming fat occasionally, until meat is fork-tender, 1 3/4-2 hours. Pluck out and discard thyme and bay leaf. Let ragout cool slightly.
• Combine beans and ragout:
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer bean mixture to pot with ragout. Add enough cooking liquid from beans just to cover. Pour remaining bean cooking liquid into an airtight container and chill; you may need it for finishing the cassoulet later. Let ragout mixture cool completely, then cover and chill at least 12 hours.
• DO AHEAD: Ragout and beans can be combined 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
• THE DAY OF
• Temper and season ragout mixture:
• Remove ragout mixture from refrigerator and skim fat from surface; discard. Cover pot and bring ragout to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat. Taste and season conservatively with salt and pepper if needed (the duck will add considerable saltiness when mixed in).
• Prepare sausage and breadcrumbs:
• Remove reserved duck meat and skin from refrigerator. Let meat come to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, arrange skin in a single layer in an 8-qt. Dutch oven or other heavy pot (the same one you'll cook the cassoulet in). Cook over low heat, turning occasionally, until golden brown and crisp, 20-30 minutes. Using tongs, transfer skin to paper towels and blot away excess fat.
• Prick pork sausages all over with a fork and cook in fat in same pot, turning occasionally, until browned all over and cooked through, 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool slightly. Cut into 2" pieces.
• Add breadcrumbs to pot and cook, stirring often, until golden in spots and starting to crisp, about 5 minutes. If breadcrumbs seem very dry or are sticking to the pot, add 1-2 Tbsp. reserved duck fat. Transfer breadcrumbs to a medium bowl and let cool slightly. Add parsley and toss to combine. Wipe out pot and let cool.
• Layer cassoulet:
• Rub inside of cooled pot with cut sides of garlic; ladle in one-third of ragout mixture. Top with half of pork sausage, garlic sausage, and duck meat, then another third of ragout mixture. Top with remaining duck meat and sausages, then remaining ragout mixture. Liquid should come to top of beans. Add reserved bean cooking liquid if needed.
• DO AHEAD: Cassoulet can be assembled 1 day ahead; cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before proceeding. Store breadcrumbs and duck skin separately airtight at room temperature.
• Bake cassoulet:
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Scatter two-thirds of breadcrumb mixture over cassoulet.
• Bake, uncovered, until a golden crust forms, 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and use a spoon to break up crust, pressing very gently so crust absorbs a little liquid; smooth surface. Bake until another crust forms, 25-30 minutes; break up again. Repeat process 2 more times (for a total of 4 times). If mixture starts to look dry, moisten with a bit of reserved bean cooking liquid when breaking up the crust.
• Top cassoulet with remaining breadcrumb mixture; bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Let rest at least 25 minutes before serving.
• Divide cassoulet among bowls; crumble duck skin over.

CASSOULET

Steps:

• Bundle parsley, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, celery, and leek to form a bouquet garni, wrapping kitchen twine around the aromatics several times to secure -- which ensures easy retrieval of the ingredients after they've infused the cooking liquid with flavor.
• Warm oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add fatback or pork belly, and cook until it is golden on all sides and has begun to render its fat, about 5 minutes. Add pork shoulder, and cook until golden on all sides, about 8 minutes total.
• Stick clove in half the onion, and add to pot along with bouquet garni, ham hock, carrot, tomatoes and juice, and beans. Add enough cold water to cover by 1 to 2 inches (about 8 cups). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer gently until beans are tender throughout but not falling apart, 40 to 50 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat. Discard carrot, onion, and bouquet garni. Transfer ham hock to a cutting board, reserving liquid, and let cool slightly. Trim meat and gelatin from the bone, dicing and returning them to the pot. Discard the bone.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Rub cut side of garlic clove over the entire inner surface of a small (5-quart) Dutch oven or other ovenproof vessel. This allows a subtle though distinct garlic flavor to infuse the resulting cassoulet.
• Using a wire skimmer or a slotted spoon, place half the bean mixture in the Dutch oven, spreading it evenly. Leave the cooking liquid in the pot.
• Arrange the duck confit and sausage on top of the beans in the Dutch oven to create a single, snug layer. Spoon the remaining beans over the meat, reserving the cooking liquid.
• Add enough cooking liquid so the beans are almost, but not quite, submerged. Reserve the remaining liquid. Transfer pot to oven and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours. Check the liquid every 30 minutes to make sure it is no more than 1/2 inch below the beans, and add liquid or water as necessary. Do not stir.
• After the cassoulet has cooked for 2 hours, toss bread and butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over cassoulet, and return to oven until beans are tender and bread is golden, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Before serving, let cassoulet stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to cool and to allow the beans to absorb some of the liquid. You can refrigerate cassoulet in an airtight container for up to 3 days; rewarm in an oven heated to 300 degrees.

OVEN CASSOULET

Steps:

• In a nonstick saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook and stir the sausage, onion, carrots, celery and garlic for 4-5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, thyme, pepper and cloves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes or until carrots are tender and liquid is slightly thickened. Discard bay leaf. Stir in beans., Transfer to a 2-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine the bread crumbs, butter and parsley. Sprinkle over sausage mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until edges are bubbly and top is golden brown.