Traditional French Cassoulet

• servings: 8 servings
• total time: 12 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound dried cannellini beans

3 tablespoons kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume

1 quart homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock

2 tablespoons duck fat (optional)

1/2 duck prepared from Costco

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound garlic sausage (2 to 4 links, depending on size)

1/2 pack pancetta

1 large onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)

1 carrot, unpeeled, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 whole head garlic

4 sprigs parsley

2 bay leaves

6 cloves

Directions

In a large bowl, cover beans with 3 quarts (2.8L) water and add salt. Stir to combine, then let stand at room temperature overnight. Drain and rinse beans; set aside.

In crock pot insert or stove pan , heat duck fat (if using), pancetta, sausage and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, about 9 minutes (if not using duck fat, cook pork with no additional fat). Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a large bowl, leaving rendered fat in Dutch oven, and set aside.

Add onions to Dutch oven and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot, until onions are translucent but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add drained beans, carrot, celery, 2 cloves minced garlic, parsley, bay leaves, cloves, and stock mixture. Add pork, garlic (full head, top cut)and sausages to pot and stir to incorporate. Set to low for 6-8 hours. 4 hours in- place cooked duck in. Make sure beans cooked.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: Serves 6 to 8
• Calories: 641 kcal
• Total Fat: 37 g
• Saturated Fat: 13 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 101 mg
• Sodium: 1379 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 41 g
• Dietary Fiber: 9 g
• Total Sugars: 4 g
• Protein: 36 g