It has become all to regular to find a delicious recipe on Serious Eats. There are certain recipes that do take a bit of effort and time, but this is one that really doesn’t take much time at all. Usually when I think of a French Cassoulet, I think of something that takes hours and hours of cooking time. A typical cassoulet is slow cooked for a long period of time, allowing the beans (usually dry) to cook allowing the different flavors time to come together. What is great about this recipe is that it cuts that time down significantly with the use of canned white beans.
While the original recipe calls for broccolini, I only had asparagus on hand. The recipe also calls for pork sausages, though I switched in sweet turkey sausages. You just want to be sure that you use sausages that are raw, and not the ones that are already cooked.
Here is the recipe from serious eats with a few changes that I made. The recipe comes from a section on Serious Eats entitled Dinner for Two, but there is no reason you couldn’t double everything and have a perfect portion for four people.
Ingredients
Recipe based on Serious Eats
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
About 1 pound of sweet sausages (pork, turkey)
1 pound asparagus, tough bottoms removed; cut in 3″ pieces.
1 head of garlic, cloves separated and left in their wrappers
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 (14-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup of water, vegetable stock, chicken stock, or white wine (I used 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup white wine)
Pinch of chili flakes (optional)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Arrange the oven rack in the center position and heat oven to 450F. In a high-sided sautépan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over high heat until shimmering. Add the sausages, and cook until lightly browned on bottom, about 1 minute. Take the pan off the heat, and add garlic, and rosemary, and toss to coat in the oil. Add the beans, and water and wine. Add chili flakes, if using. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Make sure everything is pushed down into the liquid, and make sure the sausages are poking out on top. The liquid will only come about halfway up the side of sausages. Drizzle the top of the pot with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Place the pot back on the heat, covered, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat all the way down, add asparagus and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Then, remove the lid, and place the whole pot in the oven until sausages are cooked through, about 15 minutes. To get sausages extra brown, broil for the last 2 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool slightly, season to taste with salt and pepper, sprinkle with parsley, and serve directly from skillet.
