Cassoulet with Confit Duck
Soft tasty bean cassoulet with confit duck! It may take time to make this recipe but it is so worth it. If you love traditional French food then do try it. It's winter comfort food at it's best!
Servings 4
Calories 579kcal
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Confit Duck
- 2 duck legs
- 2 garlic cloves
- Pinch salt
- Pinch pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Ingredients for the Cassoulet
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 1 celery stick finely diced
- 1 onion finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tomato quartered
- 2 slices bacon
- 2 sausages diced
- 200 g dried cannellini beans
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1-2 cloves
- ½ lemon juiced
- 1 slice stale bread blitzed in a food processor to make bread crumbs
Instructions
How to Make Confit Duck
- Rub quite a bit of salt into the duck legs and put in the fridge overnight.
- Wash the salt off the legs. Dry them on kitchen paper. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the garlic in half and rub into the duck. Mix the herbs together and rub onto the duck legs as well.
- Put the duck, along with the herbs and garlic into a saucepan so it fits fairly snuggly. Pour olive oil over the top until the duck is just covered.
- Cook on the cooker top for about 5 hours. I used a high heat to begin with and as soon as a bubble appeared I lowered the heat to as low as it would go. There should be just one or two bubbles a minute.
- Let it cool then cover the pan and put it in the fridge if you are not using the duck immediately.
- When you want to use the duck, use kitchen roll to wipe the fat off.
How to Make the Cassoulet
- Soak the cannellini beans in a saucepan of water overnight.
- Rinse and then boil the beans for about 20 minutes. Then rinse again.
- In an oven-proof pan, heat some oil and cook the onion, carrot and celery for about five minutes.
- Add the bacon and sausages and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the diced tomato, garlic cloves, beans and herbs and cover with about 600ml of water.
- Bring to the boil and skim off any scum.
- Put in the oven uncovered at about 120°c. Take it out after an hour and give it a stir. Return and continue to cook for another hour.
- Take it out of the oven and this time bury the duck legs in the cassoulet. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top and sprinkle on the breadcrumbs. Cook in the oven for another 2 hours, without stirring.
Notes
Nutritional information is approximate and a guideline only.
Nutrition
Calories: 579kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 136mg | Sodium: 498mg | Potassium: 1199mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 2836IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 171mg | Iron: 8mg