The Ultimate Cassoulet

Serves 8

Preparation time overnight

Cooking time over 2 hours

Ingredients
300g/10oz dried white haricot beans, soaked in cold water overnight
1 onion, studded with a few cloves
1 bouquet garni (2 bay leaves, a few sprigs each of thyme and flat
leaf parsley and a 7.5cm/3in celery stick, tied together)
4 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 Toulouse sausages
4 duck legs
350g/12oz belly pork rashers, skinned and diced
2 tbsp goose or duck fat (or oil)
1 large onion, chopped roughly
1 large carrot, chopped roughly
2 celery sticks, chopped roughly
350g/12oz lamb neck fillet, diced
350g/12oz boneless casserole pork, diced
290ml/½ pint dry white wine
400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 heaped tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 heaped tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper
green salad with mustard vinaigrette, to serve
For the topping:
1 large day-old baguette
2 fat garlic cloves, halved
4 tbsp goose or duck fat (or half butter, half oil)
2 heaped tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 heaped tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

Method
1. Drain and rinse the beans, tip into a large pan and cover
generously with cold water. Bring to the boil and skim off the scum,
then add the studded onion, the bouquet garni, half the garlic and
lots of pepper. Stir, half cover and boil for 30 minutes more. Stir
occasionally and top up with water when necessary.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Prick the duck all
over with a fork and put on a rack in a roasting tin. Roast for 30
minutes, then remove and set aside. Lower the oven to 140C/275F/Gas
3. When the beans have been cooking for 1 hour, tip them into a sieve,
discard the onion and bouquet garni. Set sausages aside.
4. Put the belly pork in a 4l/7pt flameproof dish and heat gently
until the fat runs, then increase the heat and fry until just crispy.
Add the poultry fat and heat until sizzling, then add the onion,
carrot, celery and remaining garlic, scraping up the bits from the
base. Fry over a gentle heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Use a
slotted spoon to transfer to a plate.
5. Increase the heat and add the lamb. Stir fry until coloured on all
sides, then transfer to the plate and repeat with the pork. Tip the
ingredients from the plate back into the dish. Add the tomatoes,
tomato purée and herbs, then season with sea salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add the haricot beans and 850ml/1½pt water to the dish and bring to
the boil. Stir, then lower the heat so the liquid is just simmering.
Keep the mixture in the same dish to cook or transfer it to an
earthenware dish.
7. Remove the skin from the duck, then tuck the duck legs into the
liquid. Peel off the sausage skins, slice the sausagemeat thickly on
the diagonal and add to the dish.
8. Cover the dish and bake for 1 hour, stirring once. Stir, then cook
uncovered for a further 1-1½ hours, stirring halfway, until the meat
is really tender and the sauce is thickened. Take the dish out of the
oven and remove the duck legs. Strip the meat from the bones (it will
fall off easily) and return the meat to the dish. Stir and add a
little water, if necessary. Season if necessary, then return to the
oven and bake for another 15 mintues until all the meat and beans are
very tender.
9. Cut the crusts off the baguette, tear the bread into pieces and put
in a food processor. Add the garlic and chop into coarse crumbs (you
should have about 200g/8oz). Heat the fat in a large frying pan until
sizzling, then stir fry the breadcrumbs and garlic over a moderate to
high heat for 7-8 minutes until crisp and golden. Remove from the
heat, toss in the herbs and stir to mix, then season well with salt
and pepper.
10. Give the cassoulet a good stir. The consistency should be quite
thick, but not stodgy. If you prefer it slightly runnier, add a little
water. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary, then sprinkle
the topping over the surface in a thick even layer. Serve in warm
bowls with a green salad dressed in mustard vinaigrette.