Don’t be fooled by the fancy “cassoulet” name in the title – it’s literally another way of saying a stew!! A cassoulet originates from Southern France where you would slow cook beef, pork skin and white beans in a deep round earthenware pot most likely over a hot fire or mud oven.
So I didn’t have a big earthenware pot nor any beef at hand when in Portugal recently cooking for all the guests of The Reset.Me retreat in the beautiful Casa Fuzetta. I did however have beans, herbs, spices and plenty of onions and garlic. I knew I could get my hands on some chorizo and along came this idea of making a cassoulet.
I keep saying it but the random ideas with basic ingredients often turn into my best recipes. The guests left only a mere glaze of sauce on the serving dish so I think enough said, the recipe more than passed the test!!
Some leftover roast chicken would be fab in this too. Like the original cassoulet, some round beef steak or beef shin or shank would be gorgeous in this too. It would also work great in a slow cooker, I would add the pre-cooked beans and cream at the end while increasing the volume of initial cooking liquid. Uncooked beans could be used too but will require to go in at the start of the process.
Serves 5.
- 2 tsp butter or oil
- 2 shallots or 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 red chillies, de-seeded and diced
- 150g chorizo, cubed
- 125ml white wine or hot vegetable stock
- 2 x 400g tins cooked beans (cannellini, butterbean or chickpea), drained and rinsed
- zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- 200ml cream/coconut cream/creme fraiche/plain Greek yoghurt
- 2 tbsp fresh herbs (coriander, mint, parsley), roughly chopped
- Melt the butter in a frying pan or shallow saucepan over a low heat.
- Add the shallots and garlic and slowly cook for 5-7 minutes until soft through.
- Stir in the chillies and continue to cook until soft through.
- Add the chorizo to the pan and again cook until the juices begin to release.
- Deglaze the pan with the wine or stock by pouring over the pan and stirring to loosen any bits that may have got stuck to the base during cooking. Increase the heat to a medium heat and allow the liquid to boil up and reduce down to half.
- Stir through the beans, lemon zest and juice and cream until well combined. Cover with a lid and allow to simmer on low for 10 minutes.
- Serve in a large dish with the herbs sprinkled over the top.
