Recipes : Sausage and White Bean Cassoulet : Food Network

	Print 4x6 Recipe Cards
	Print this recipe out and cut along the dotted lines to add this 4x6 recipe card to your personal collection.

Sausage and White Bean Cassoulet
Recipe courtesy Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh

Ingredients
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

Instructions
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.

*This is the quick soak method. The beans can also be left to soak overnight in cold water.