Sometimes I just want some beans with sausages. And that’s when I make me some White Beans And Smoked Sausage Cassoulet. If I want spicy, I use Andouille Sausages. If I feel like something more mild, I use smoked beef or smoked chicken sausages. Any way you cook it, this stuff is dee-lish! A hearty and yummy meal! Just add some crusty bread and a good wine and you’ve got yourself one fabulous feast!
White Beans and Smoked Sausage Cassoulet
Recipe by: Bobbi Jo Lathan
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Southern
PREP TIME
10 mins
COOK TIME
80 mins
TOTAL TIME
1 hour 30 mins
INGREDIENTS
1 pound bag of dried navy or cannellini beans
1 smoked ham hock
2 teaspoons each salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 pound package of smoked sausage (I use Andouille or smoked Chicken sausages)
1 large yellow onion (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
2 stalks celery (chopped)
3 cloves fresh garlic (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon fresh sage
1 teaspoon fresh oregano
1 teaspoon each of salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Beans:
First off, THE NIGHT BEFORE, put your beans in a pot and cover in water. Put a lid on the pot and go to bed while they soak overnight. Feel free to dream about how good these here beans are gonna taste.
The next morning git out your colander and place it in the kitchen sink and drain the soaked beans.
Now, rinse the beans and remove and throw away any bad looking beans.
Git out a big pot, pour the drained, soaked, and rinsed beans into the big pot.
Add the ham hock, salt, pepper, garlic powder and bay leaf and vinegar and cover the beans in water. There should be at least an inch of water above the beans. Give it all a good stir and cook over a medium high heat for at least 1 hour until the beans are tender.
After an hour, if you taste several beans (at least 5 or 6) and they are not tender, add some more water and keep cooking until the beans are nice and tender. Then turn off the beans and let’s cook the sausages.
Sausage:
Git out your 12 inch cast iron skillet. (If you don’t have a cast iron skillet…then you really oughta go git a pre-seasoned one at Lodge Manufacturing…I cain’t cook without my skillet that can go straight from the stove to the oven with no problems! If you have a dutch oven that can go from the stove to the oven, use that.)
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil over a medium high heat in your skillet.
Once the oil is hot, add the sausages (whole) and toss around in the skillet and cook for about 8 minutes ‘til tender and browned on all the sides.
Then, remove the sausages to a plate.
The Cassoulet:
Preheat your oven to 350°.
Using the same skillet you fried the sausage in, add the onions, carrots and celery to the grease from the sausages and stir around, cooking ‘til they are tender and the onions are translucent.
Add the chopped garlic and cook for another minute or so. Lastly, add the tomatoes and their juice and stir into your onion-carrot-celery mixture and let it cook down for about 5 minutes.
While the tomato mixture is cooking, cut the cooked sausages into about a ½ inch slices and then add the slices to the tomato mixture. Stir that all together for a minute until blended and then let that cook for about one more minute.
Now, git a slotted spoon and spoon the beans into the cast iron skillet. (Be sure to remove the bay leaf.) Stir the beans into the tomato mixture until incorporated. If the whole mixture seems too dry, you may add a half to one cup of juice leftover from the beans or a cup of chicken broth. We’re gonna finish it off in the oven, so you need a little juice that barely covers the beans and meat. Lastly, add the fresh thyme, fresh sage, fresh oregano, salt and pepper and give it a good stir.
Place the cassoulet (i.e. skillet with all the good stuff in it) into your preheated oven and let it cook uncovered for about 15-20 minutes.
Take it out and serve up with some crusty baguette and a very good wine. Hearty and Yummy!
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