Best Italian Cassoulet Italian Chili 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.

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.

ITALIAN CHILI

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook beef and sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. Meanwhile, in a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, onion, red pepper, water, celery, broth, chili powder, Italian seasoning, sugar, garlic and salt. , Drain beef mixture; add to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until vegetables are tender. , Add the beans, mushrooms, zucchini and parsley. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with cheese if desired.

VALERIE'S COMFY CASSOULET

Steps:

• For the cassoulet: Combine the dried beans, 1 tablespoon salt and 8 cups hot water in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and cover with a lid. Let sit for 1 hour, until the beans are "al dente" (softened but still with some bite). Drain the beans and rinse under cold water.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large Dutch oven over medium-low heat, add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the bacon lardons. Slowly render the fat out of the bacon and cook until crispy, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Drain the bacon on a paper towel-lined baking sheet.
• Increase the heat to medium and add the sausages to the rendered bacon fat. Brown on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Drain on the baking sheet.
• Season the chicken thighs and drumsticks generously on both sides with salt and pepper. In two batches, add the chicken to the Dutch oven and cook until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Drain on the baking sheet.
• Stir the onions, carrots, fennel and celery into the rendered fat; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until softened, 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste; cook for another 2 minutes, until evenly combined with the vegetables and just beginning to toast. Add the diced tomatoes, chicken stock, white beans, parsley, rosemary and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.
• Cut the sausages on the bias into thin rounds and add them to the pot along with the bacon, stirring to combine. Transfer the cassoulet to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with the chicken thighs and drumsticks; drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the chicken.
• Place the baking dish on a baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake until the top of the cassoulet turns a rich, deep brown color, the liquid has reduced and the beans have risen to the surface, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
• For the breadcrumb topping: Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, add the breadcrumbs and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Toast the breadcrumbs until golden brown, stirring often, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and parsley.
• To serve: Garnish the cassoulet with the breadcrumb topping and some fennel fronds. Serve immediately!

SWEET ITALIAN CHILI

Steps:

• Brown ground beef in a dutch oven.
• Drain and return to pan.
• Add bell pepper, parsley, onion and celery.
• Saute until onion is clear, approximately 5 minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients and simmer 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

PASTA E FAJIOLI SOUP (ITALIAN CHILI)

Steps:

• Brown ground beef and sausage. Drain fat. Place all ingredients in stock pot except pasta and garnish. Heat to boiling then cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook three hours. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Add pasta to soup bowl by the hand full, add soup. Garnish with cheese and serve.
• Enjoy!

CASSOULET WITH LOTS OF VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the meat, and cook, turning as needed, until the meat is deeply browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat.
• Turn the heat to medium and add the garlic, leeks or onions, carrots, celery, and zucchini or cabbage; and sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, their liquid, the reserved meat, and the herbs and bring to a boil. Add the beans; bring to a boil again, stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat so the mixture bubbles gently but continuously. Cook for about 20 minutes, adding the liquid when the mixture gets thick and the vegetables are melting away.
• Fish out the meat and remove the bones and skin as needed. Chop into chunks and return to the pot along with the cayenne. Cook another minute or two to warm through, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary and serve.

SAUSAGE AND WHITE BEAN "CASSOULET"

Steps:

• In a medium skillet cook sausages in oil over moderate heat, turning them, until browned on all sides and cooked through, about 8 minutes, and transfer to paper towels to drain.
• In fat remaining in skillet cook onions and garlic, stirring, until golden, and stir in herbs (including bay leaf), scallions or parsley, tomatoes with juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Boil mixture, stirring, 5 minutes. Cut sausage into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Add sausage and beans to tomato mixture and cook, stirring, until heated through. Discard bay leaf and keep "cassoulet" warm, covered.
• Make topping:
• In a small skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté bread until pale golden. Stir in garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste and sauté, stirring, 1 minute.
• Transfer "cassoulet" to a 1-quart serving dish and cover evenly with topping.