Best Shortcut Pork Cassoulet Recipes

TRADITIONAL FRENCH CASSOULET RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cover beans with 3 quarts water and add salt. Stir to combine and let sit at room temperature overnight. Drain and rinse beans and set aside.
• Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Place stock in a large liquid measuring cup and sprinkle gelatin over the top. Set aside. Heat duck fat (if using) in a large Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering. Add salt pork and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a large bowl, leaving rendered fat in Dutch oven, and set aside. (If not using duck fat, cook pork with no additional fat.)
• Season chicken pieces with pepper (do not add salt) and place skin side down in now-empty pan. Cook without moving until well-browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip chicken pieces and continue cooking until lightly browned on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer to bowl with salt pork.
• Add sausages and cook, turning occasionally, until well-browned on both sides. Transfer to bowl with salt pork and chicken. Drain all but 2 tablespoons fat from pot.
• Add onions to pot and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook until onions are translucent but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add drained beans, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, bay leaves, cloves, and stock/gelatin mixture. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce to low, cover Dutch oven, and cook until beans are almost tender but retain a slight bite, about 45 minutes.
• Using tongs, remove carrots, celery, parsley, bay leaves, and cloves and discard. Add meats to pot and stir to incorporate, making sure that the chicken pieces end up on top of the beans with the skin facing upwards. Beans should be almost completely submerged. Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered, until a thin crust forms on top, about 2 hours, adding more water by pouring it carefully down the side of the pot, as necessary, to keep beans mostly covered.
• Break crust with a spoon and shake pot gently to redistribute. Return to oven and continue cooking, stopping to break and shake the crust every 30 minutes until you reach the 4 1/2 hour mark. Return to oven and continue cooking undisturbed until the crust is deep brown and thick, about 5 to 6 hours total. Serve immediately.

PORK CASSOULET

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
• 2. Place the spareribs in a heavy pot with half the onion, half the minced garlic, and the thyme sprigs.
• 3. Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
• 4. Remove the ribs; set aside.
• 5. In the same pot, over medium heat, brown the bacon.
• 6. Remove all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat and add the celery, carrot, salt, pepper, thyme leaves, and the remaining onion and garlic (minced and whole) and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
• 7. Add the broth, wine, tomatoes, bay leaves, and beans. Bring to a simmer, then add the cooked ribs.
• 8. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the olive oil, bread crumbs, and parsley.
• 9. Sprinkle the bread-crumb mixture over the cassoulet and bake for 1 hour, uncovered, occasionally pressing the bread crumbs into the cassoulet to thicken it.
• 10. Let cool and serve.

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.

CASSOULET

Steps:

• The night before cooking, marinate the meat and soak the beans. For meat: In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except fat and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight. For beans: In a large bowl, combine beans, 1 teaspoon salt and enough cold water to cover by 4 inches. Cover and let sit overnight.
• The next day, roast the meat: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Pour fat over meat in the bowl and toss to coat. Spread meat in one even layer on a rimmed baking sheet, leaving space between each piece to encourage browning (use two pans if necessary). Top meat with any fat left in bowl. Roast until browned, about 1 hour, then turn pieces, cover with foil, and continue to roast until soft, another 1 1/2 hours. Remove meat from baking sheet, then scrape up all browned bits stuck to the pan. Reserve fat and browned bits.
• Meanwhile, cook the beans: Drain beans, add them to a large stockpot and cover with 2 inches water. Add bouquet garni, celery, carrot, 2 garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons salt and the pepper. Stick whole clove into the folds of the onion half and add that as well. Bring to a boil and then simmer over medium heat, stirring often, until beans are cooked through, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, adding garlic sausage after 30 minutes. When beans are cooked, remove bouquet garni and aromatics, including vegetables. Reserving cooking liquid, drain the beans and sausage.
• While beans are cooking, bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add salt pork. Simmer for 30 minutes, remove and let cool. Cut off skin, then slice pork into very thin pieces and reserve.
• Heat a very large skillet (at least 12 inches) over medium heat and add a drizzle of duck or other fat. Add fresh pork sausages and cook until well browned on all sides, about 20 minutes. Remove to a plate and reserve, leaving any sausage fat in skillet.
• In same skillet over medium-high heat, add 1/4 cup of the reserved fat and the browned bits from the roasted meat. Add diced onions, carrots and celery, and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add 9 whole garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, another 2 to 4 minutes. Add tomato purée, season with salt to taste, and simmer until thickened to a saucelike consistency, 5 to 10 minutes, if necessary. Add cooked beans and stir to combine. Remove from heat and reserve.
• Assemble the cassoulet: Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large Dutch oven, lay salt pork pieces in an even layer to cover the bottom of the pot. Add a scant third of the bean and garlic sausage mixture, spreading evenly. Top with half of the roasted meat pieces, 2 pork sausages and 2 duck legs. Add another scant third of the bean mixture, and top with remaining meat, sausages and duck legs. Top with remaining beans, spreading them to the edges and covering all meat. Pour reserved bean liquid along the edges of the pot, until liquid comes up to the top layer of beans but does not cover. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top and drizzle with 1/4 cup duck fat.
• Bake until crust is lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Use a large spoon to lightly crack the crust; the bean liquid will bubble up. Use the spoon to drizzle the bean liquid all over the top of the crust. Return to oven and bake 1 hour more, cracking the crust and drizzling with the bean liquid every 20 minutes, until the crust is well browned and liquid is bubbling. (The total baking time should be 1 1/2 hours.) Remove from oven and let cool slightly, then serve.

QUICK PORK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chops; cook 2 min. on each side or until browned on both sides. Move to one side of skillet. Add kielbasa, carrots, onions and garlic; cook 2 min., stirring occasionally.
• Add broth, bay leaf and thyme; stir. Cover skillet with lid. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 25 min. or until chops are cooked through. Stir in beans.
• Mix flour and water. Add to ingredients in skillet; mix well. Cook 5 min. or until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove and discard bay leaf before serving.

PORK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Put a large ovenproof pan (with a tight-fitting lid) on a high heat. Add your fat and diced meat, cook for a few mins to seal the edges, giving it a quick stir to cook evenly. Reduce the heat to low, add the sliced onion, whole garlic cloves, carrot and fennel seeds, and cook gently to soften the veg for a few mins.
• Pour over the red wine vinegar, scraping any meaty bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, tomato purée, and half the rosemary and parsley. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins, then season, cover with a lid and put into the oven for 2 hrs, removing the lid for the final hour of cooking. Stir occasionally and add the beans with 30 mins to go.
• Remove the pan from the oven and heat the grill. Scatter the top with the remaining herbs and breadcrumbs, drizzle a little oil over the top, and return to the oven for 5-10 mins, until the breadcrumbs are golden. Serve with crusty bread and green veg.

PORK CASSOULET

Steps:

• Cook bacon in Dutch oven or large deep skillet on medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet with slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Pour drippings into small bowl. Return 1 Tbsp. drippings to pan. Add sausage; cook 6 to 8 min. or until evenly browned, stirring frequently. Transfer to large bowl, reserving drippings in pan. Toss pork chunks with herbs and pepper. Add to drippings; cook 6 to 8 min. or until evenly browned, stirring occasionally. Transfer to bowl with sausage.
• Add 1 Tbsp. of the reserved bacon drippings to pan. Add onions, celery and garlic; cook 5 min., stirring frequently to scrape browned bits from bottom of pan. Stir in tomatoes and wine; bring to boil on high heat. Return pork chunks, sausage mixture and reserved bacon to skillet; cover. Simmer on low heat 1 hour to 1 hour 15 min. or until pork chunks are tender. Remove from heat. Stir in beans. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole.
• Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix bread crumbs, Parmesan and oil; sprinkle over casserole. Bake 25 to 30 min. or until casserole is hot and bubbly and topping is golden brown.