This is the worlds greatest baked bean recipe and a classic French dish its almost the national dish Its perfect for a cold winter night
Prep Time
8 hrs
Dificult
Medium
Servings
11 hrs
Ingredients
Instructions
Soak Great Northern beans in water in a large bowl overnight. Drain beans and place into a large soup pot. Push whole clove into the 1/2 onion and add to beans; stir in garlic
bay leaf
thyme
rosemary
and 10 cups water. Bring beans to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat until beans have started to soften
about 1 hour. Drain beans and reserve the cooking liquid
removing and discarding onion with clove and bay leaf. Transfer beans to a large mixing bowl.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cook bacon in a large
heavy Dutch oven over medium heat until lightly browned and still limp
about 5 minutes. Stir celery
carrots
and 1/2 diced onion into bacon; season with salt. Cook and stir vegetables in the hot bacon fat until tender
about 10 minutes.
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large
heavy skillet over medium heat; brown sausage link halves and duck confit in the hot oil until browned
about 5 minutes per side.
Season vegetable-bacon mixture with 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
cracked black pepper
and herbes de Provence; pour in diced tomatoes. Cook and stir mixture over medium heat until juice from tomatoes has nearly evaporated and any browned bits of food on the bottom of pot have dissolved
about 5 minutes. Stir mixture into beans.
Spread half the bean mixture into the heavy Dutch oven and place duck-sausage mixture over the beans; spread remaining beans over meat layer. Pour just enough of the reserved bean liquid into pot to reach barely to the top of the beans
reserving remaining liquid. Bring bean cassoulet to a simmer on stovetop and cover Dutch oven with lid.
Bake bean cassoulet in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add 4 crushed garlic cloves
panko crumbs
and parsley to the melted butter. Season with salt and black pepper
and drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over crumbs. Stir to thoroughly combine.
Uncover cassoulet and check liquid level; mixture should still have several inches of liquid. If beans seem dry
add more of the reserved bean liquid. Spread half the crumb mixture evenly over the beans and return to oven. Cook
uncovered
for 20 minutes. There should be about 2 or 3 inches of liquid at the bottom of the pot; if mixture seems dry
add more reserved bean mixture. Sprinkle remaining half the bread crumb mixture over cassoulet.
Turn oven heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and bake cassoulet
uncovered
until crumb topping is crisp
edges are bubbling
and the bubbles are slow and sticky
20 to 25 more minutes. Serve beans on individual plates and top each serving with a piece of duck and several sausage pieces.
Recipe Tip
Feel free to mix up the pork products in this dish. For example
