Name: Cassoulet Toulousain
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h 30 min
Yield: Serves 6 generously
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 400 g boned shoulder of lamb, cut into 6; 300 g pork belly, cut into large cubes; several sprigs of thyme; freshly ground black pepper; 3 onions, 1 whole and studded with 3 cloves; 2 carrots; 250 g breadcrumbs; 400 g Toulouse sausages; 5 large tomatoes, peeled and quartered; 2 tbsp goose fat; 400 g preserved goose or duck legs (confit); 1 bouquet garni; 400 g dried haricot beans, soaked overnight in water, drained; 200 g pork rind; 6 cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled; sea salt

Preparation info

Serves
6
generously

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
4 hr 30

Appears in

The French Market

By Joanne Harris and Fran Warde

Published 2005

About

This very old traditional peasant dish has a thousand variants, every one of which is considered by its followers to be the real deal. Personally, I prefer it without the breadcrumbs (although I know that in some parts of France this makes me a Philistine), and there is also some serious division of opinion regarding the tomatoes. Everyone agrees, however, that as winter comfort food goes, you can’t get much better. The slow cooking time means that everything is infused with the rich flavou