Cheat'S French Cassoulet - Crock Pot Or Le Creuset
- 50 g lardons or 50 g bacon, chopped into small dice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 450 g meaty sausages
- 4 lean pork chops, cut into large pieces
- 400 g tinned beans
- haricot beans or butter beans
- 1 onion, peeled & diced
- 4 carrots, peeled & diced into biggish chunks
- 400 g chopped tomatoes
- 400 ml chicken stock
- 200 ml red wine
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 garlic cloves (or more)
- 50 g breadcrumbs
- 1 bouquet garni
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet - fry the bacon until nearly crisp & then add the onions, garlic, & carrots. Cook over a high heat until they are just soft on the outside & turning a golden colour. Drain well & remove from pan. Add to crock pot or Le Creuset casserole dish.
- Add sausages and brown - remove & add to onion mixture.
- Add pork chop pieces & brown - remove and add to above mixture.
- Make up chicken stock and add wine. Mix tomatoes in with stock & teaspoon of sugar.
- Pour stock and tomatoes over the cassoulet in crock pot or le creuset - add bouquet garni & give everything a good stir!
- Add the beans and stir well again.
- Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and cook for up to 6 hours on high in crock pot or in le cresuet for 3 hours in a slow oven with the lid on, 150C/300u0b0F.
- Half an hour before serving, take lid of le creuset to brown the top. It's difficult to brown in a crock pot, but it's not that essential to brown the top, as the reason behind the breadcrumbs is to soak up some of the juice & make a crust on top! If your crock pot is the type which you can put under the grill, then do so!
- Serve with mountains of fluffy mashed potatoes & stir-fried Savoy Cabbage.
- NOTE ON SAUSAGES:
- Try to use very good quality high meat content sausages; in France Toulouse sausages are mainly used - they generally have a meat content of at least 85%. Good quality English style sausages are also good - I have a recipe posted for some English sausages: Recipe #190045.
- However, any kind of sausage can be used and in the past I have used: Choritzo, Italian Style, Chipolatas etc.
- The Pork chops can be replaced with chicken pieces, lamb steaks or Confit D'Canard - preserved duck, if you are lucky enought to have some!
lardons, olive oil, sausages, lean pork chops, tinned beans, haricot beans, onion, carrots, tomatoes, chicken stock, red wine, sugar, garlic, breadcrumbs, bouquet garni
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/cheats-french-cassoulet-crock-pot-or-le-creuset-200864 (may not work)