This is truly one of my favourite quick meals at the chateau! My gorgeous friend Sangeetha first whipped this rustic delight up for me when I arrived delirious in London after a 30+ hour flight from Australia. We needed to be up at 4am the next day to catch a flight to ? and neither of us felt like going out for dinner. This deliciously simple cassoulet was the perfect meal shared with a crusty baguette and a glass of wine.
Fry onions, garlic & lardons or chorizo
In a separate pan fry up good quality pork sausages until brown and put into the casserole dish
Then add chicken stock, red wine, leeks, butter beans, juice of one fresh lemon, lemon rind and lots of fresh thyme and then anything else you have from the garden … carrots, celery, a bay leaf
Let it bubble away then add the kale / cavallo Nero
Serve with a crusty baguette and lashings of butter
Sangeetha’s tells me the magic is the lemon zest and fresh thyme stewing together for an hour and a half