This cassoulet recipe is another one from the Hairy Bikers that we found on the BBC website a couple of years ago…turns out it’s from their Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight recipe book, but honestly you’d never know – it’s healthy, full of flavour, hearty and delicious.
They made a few tweaks to reduce the calorie count while keeping the big flavours. Choose really meaty sausages – our favourites are classic pork sausages from Asda with 90% pork. The original recipe says to use smoked gammon, however, I prefer unsmoked so that it’s less salty. Also, using skinless chicken and a very small amount of oil makes all the difference.
Tips
- We just use the casserole dish that will go in the oven to brown the sausages and cook the vegetables and chicken on the hob, so only using one pan instead of having a frying pan to clean too!
- Make sure your casserole dish is large so that everything fits in – it will be full to the brim but that’s ok.
- Chunks of skinless chicken breast will also work and if you don’t have gammon, you could use strips of bacon or lardons instead.
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Ingredients
- 0.5 tsp sunflower oil
- 6 sausages, at least 85% meat
- 4 celery sticks
- 3 carrots
- 2 onions, halved and sliced
- 6 skinless boneless chicken thighs (about 450g)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 200g piece unsmoked lean gammon, trimmed and cut into 2cm cubes
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
- 150ml red wine (or water)
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 to 5 bushy sprigs fresh thyme
- 400g can cannellini beans in water, drained and rinsed
- 400g can butter beans in water, drained and rinsed
- freshly ground black pepper
- handful fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped to garnish
Instructions
- Brush a large non-stick frying pan with the sunflower oil, using the tip of a pastry brush. Add the sausages to the pan and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, turning every now and then until nicely browned on all sides.
- Meanwhile, trim the celery and peel the carrots and cut them into diagonal slices about 1.5cm thick.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- Add the onions to the frying pan and cook with the sausages for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring regularly until softened and lightly browned.
- Trim the chicken thighs of any visible fat – we find a good pair of kitchen scissors does the job well – then cut the thighs in half.
- Add the garlic and chicken pieces to the pan with the sausages and onions and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning the chicken twice until coloured all over.
- Transfer everything to a large flameproof casserole dish.
- Stir in the gammon, celery, carrots, tomatoes, red wine and 300ml cold water, then sprinkle over the caster sugar and chilli flakes. Stir in the bay leaf and thyme and season with lots of ground black pepper.
- Bring the cassoulet to a simmer on the hob, then cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 45 minutes.
- Take the casserole out of the oven and stir in all the beans. Cover with the lid again and put the dish back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
- Just before the cassoulet is ready, chop the parsley to garnish.
- Serve large portions of the cassoulet in deep plates or wide bowls and garnish with the chopped parsley…and some nice crusty bread on the side!
Cassoulet
Ingredients
- 0.5 tsp sunflower oil
- 6 sausages at least 85% meat
- 4 celery sticks
- 3 carrots
- 2 onions halved and sliced
- 6 skinless boneless chicken thighs about 450g
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 200g piece unsmoked leangammon trimmed and cut into 2cm cubes
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
- 150ml red wine or water
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 to 5 bushy sprigs fresh thyme
- 400g can cannellini beans in water drained and rinsed
- 400g can butter beans in water drained and rinsed
- freshly ground black pepper
- handful fresh flatleaf parsley chopped to garnish
Instructions
- Brush a large non-stick frying pan with the sunflower oil, using the tip of a pastry brush. Add the sausages to the pan and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, turning every now and then until nicely browned on all sides.
- Meanwhile, trim the celery and peel the carrots and cut them into diagonal slices about 1.5cm thick.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- Add the onions to the frying pan and cook with the sausages for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring regularly until softened and lightly browned.
- Trim the chicken thighs of any visible fat - we find a good pair of kitchen scissors does the job well - then cut the thighs in half.
- Add the garlic and chicken pieces to the pan with the sausages and onions and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning the chicken twice until coloured all over.
- Transfer everything to a large flameproof casserole dish.
- Stir in the gammon, celery, carrots, tomatoes, red wine and 300ml cold water, then sprinkle over the caster sugar and chilli flakes. Stir in the bay leaf and thyme and season with lots of ground black pepper.
- Bring the cassoulet to a simmer on the hob, then cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 45 minutes.
- Take the casserole out of the oven and stir in all the beans. Cover with the lid again and put the dish back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
- Just before the cassoulet is ready, chop the parsley to garnish.
- Serve large portions of the cassoulet in deep plates or wide bowls and garnish with the chopped parsley…and some nice crusty bread on the side!
Notes
- We just use the casserole dish that will go in the oven to brown the sausages and cook the vegetables and chicken on the hob, so only using one pan instead of having a frying pan to clean too!
- Make sure your casserole dish is large so that everything fits in - it will be full to the brim but that's ok.
- Chunks of skinless chicken breast will also work and if you don't have gammon, you could use strips of bacon or lardons instead.
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