Easy Cassoulet: a streamlined version of the classic French peasant stew.
If you are familiar with traditional cassoulet, you know that it doesn’t necessarily look like the dish I have posted above. Yes, I know it is usually made with big pieces of duck and whole sausages. Yes, I know that it is usually packed with beans. Yes, I know that it takes a whole day or longer to make. Yes, yes, yes, I know. This is the “one hour” version and it is still delicious and I am sticking with it.
For starters, let me say, Cassoulet is peasant food. That means the poor masses were throwing whatever they could find in their cassoule pots and letting the food stew all day while they toiled in the fields. There could be an argument that this was the precursor to today’s slow cookers. That is a conversation for another day, however. This version is a hearty soup/stew filled with chicken, beans and cooked smoked sausage.
Normally, I would have added more beans, but I was serving this for my family. My dear daughter is SO opposed to beans right now, that I added only what I thought I could get away with, without her completely refusing to eat. The entire dish could have stood two more cans of beans.
Easy Cassoulet
Author: Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker adapted from Sunset
- 1 onion, diced
- 3-4 carrots, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½-2 cups water
- 14 oz diced tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ tsp ground pepper
- 1½ tsp salt
- 2-3 15 oz cans white beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 large chicken breast halves, cubed
- 12-16 oz pre-cooked smoked sausage
- In a large Dutch oven or stock pot cook the onion, carrots and garlic in ½ cup water, stirring often until the water evaporates and the vegetables stick slightly to the pan.
- Repeat again with another ½ cup water, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan, and then do it again 1-2 more times until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the tomatoes, broth, and seasonings.
- Cover and simmer on low 45 minutes.
- Add the beans and continue to cook another 10 minutes.
- Add the chicken (uncooked), cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 more minutes.
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