Cassoulet de Toulouse

Storing and Planning Ahead

Refrigerate up to 4 days; the flavour peaks on day two. Reheat covered at 150°C / 300°F for 45 minutes with a splash of stock, uncovering for the last 15 to re-crisp.

Cassoulet de Toulouse: The Method

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1. Drain the soaked beans, cover with fresh cold water, bring to the boil for 5 minutes, then drain again. This removes the compounds that cause indigestion.

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2. Warm the duck legs in a low oven until the fat runs; lift them out and reserve 4 tablespoons of the fat.

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3. Brown the pork belly and sausages in 2 tablespoons of the duck fat in a heavy casserole, then set aside. Render the lardons in the same pot.

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4. Add the onion, carrot and garlic and cook 8 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes.

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5. Return the pork belly, add the beans, bouquet garni, salt and enough stock to cover by 3 cm. Simmer gently for 1 hour until the beans are tender but intact.

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6. Cut the sausages into thick lengths. In a wide earthenware dish, layer beans, sausage, pork and duck legs, finishing with beans and enough liquid to just cover.

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7. Scatter the breadcrumbs over and drizzle with the remaining duck fat. Bake at 150°C / 300°F for 2 hours.

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8. Every 30 minutes, break the crust with the back of a spoon and press it gently under the surface. Traditionally this is done seven times; three or four is plenty.

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9. Rest for 20 minutes before serving straight from the dish.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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A Few Pointers

• Tarbais beans hold their skins through hours of cooking. Cannellini are the best widely available substitute.
• The dish should never dry out — top up with hot stock if the beans look thirsty.
• Make it over two days. Everything improves overnight.

Why the Method Is What It Is

Cooking the beans in the pork-and-duck broth rather than water means they absorb fat and gelatine as they hydrate, which is what gives cassoulet its unctuous texture. Breaking the crust and pressing it back down concentrates the surface into successive layers of savoury skin — it is not showmanship, it is how the dish thickens.

Good Alongside

A robust Madiran or Cahors from the same region · A sharp frisée salad with mustard vinaigrette is the only side needed · Follow with a tarte aux pommes

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Aligot, Boulangere Potatoes, Bretzel Alsacien.

Changing the Recipe

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

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What's in a Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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