Cassoulet from Lauragais

Of very ancient origin, the cassoulet is an integral part of the family and popular traditions of Lauragais. From Toulouse to Castelnaudary, it symbolizes the art of eating well in the South-West. Bullion beans or Tarbais beans? Duck, goose or pig? Each family has its little recipe secrets. We offer you ours.

Ingredients

• 350 to 400 g of dry beans, ingot type.
• 2 duck or goose legs confit, cut in half.
• 4 pieces of 80g pure pork sausage.
• 4 pieces of 50g pork meat taken from the shank, shoulder or breast.
• 250 g of pork rind, half of which will be used after cooking for assembling the cassoulet.
• A little salted bacon.
• 1 poultry carcass or a few pork bones, onions and carrots.

Configuration

The day before:

• Soak the dried beans overnight in cold water.

The day :

• Drain this water, put the beans in a saucepan with three liters of cold water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, drain the water and reserve the beans.
• Prepare the broth with another 3 liters of water (non-calcareous and Castelnaudary if possible), the rinds cut into large strips, a poultry carcass if you have it or a few pork bones and, according to your taste , a little onions and carrots. Season with salt and pepper (generously). Cook this broth for an hour then filter the broth and collect the rinds.
• In this filtered broth, put the beans to cook until they are flexible but remain whole. For this it takes about an hour of boiling.
• While the beans are cooking, Preparing the meat:
• In a large sauté pan, degrease the pieces of confit over low heat then set them aside.
• In the remaining fat, brown the Toulouse sausages then set them aside.
• Brown the pieces of pork which should be golden brown and reserve them with the other meats.
• Drain the beans and keep the broth warm. Add a few cloves of garlic to the beans and double the weight of salted bacon, crushed together.

Assembly of the Cassoulet:

• For this, we will use the deep terracotta dish which was called "cassolo" (today "the casserole") and which gave its name to cassoulet, or failing that a fairly deep baked clay dish.
• Line the bottom of the casserole with pieces of rind.
• Add about a third of the beans.
• Arrange the meats and pour the rest of the beans on top.
• Arrange the sausages by pushing them into the beans the top of the sausages to remain visible.
• Complete the casserole by pouring in the hot broth which should just cover the beans.
• Ground pepper on the surface and add a tablespoon of the duck fat used to brown the meats.

Cuisson:

• Put in the oven at 150 ° / 160 ° (Thermostat 5 or 6) and cook for two to three hours.
• During cooking, a golden brown crust will form on top of the pan, which will have to be pushed in several times (the ancients said 7 times).
• When the tops of the beans begin to dry, add a few spoons of broth.
• If you prepare this cassoulet the day before, it should be reheated in the oven at 150 ° for an hour and a half before serving. Do not forget to add a little broth or, failing that, a few spoonfuls of water.