Hairy Bikers Cassoulet Recipe

This Hairy Bikers cassoulet is a lighter version of the French bean stew, made with sausages, chicken thighs, smoked gammon, cannellini and butter beans. And because it comes from The Hairy Dieters, each of the 6 portions is 464 calories, taking just under 2 hours by my reckoning.

Their recipe, Our Special Cassoulet, comes with a promise: “with a few little tweaks we’ve reduced the calorie count while keeping the big flavours.” And those tweaks are simple: really meaty sausages and gammon, and chicken thighs with the skin taken off.

The make-or-break step is browning in a non-stick pan brushed with just ½ tsp of oil, so the meat colours without swimming in fat. Then the sausages give off a little fat of their own, which I’d let the onions and chicken colour in.

Hairy Bikers Cassoulet Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Braising Cuisine:British French Courses:Dinner

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 15 minutesCook time:1 hour 40 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time:1 hour 55 minutesServings:6 servingsCalories:464 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Sausages, onions and halved chicken thighs colour in one pan, then go into the oven with gammon, carrots, celery, tomatoes and red wine. And the beans go in for the last 30 minutes, then a parsley and orange zest garnish finishes each bowl.

Ingredients

For the cassoulet

• ½ tsp sunflower oil
• 6 good-quality herby sausages, at least 85% meat
• 4 celery sticks
• 3 medium carrots
• 2 medium onions, halved and sliced
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 450g)
• 2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
• 200g piece of smoked lean gammon, trimmed and cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
• 150ml red wine (or water)
• 300ml cold water
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 to 5 bushy sprigs of fresh thyme
• 400g can of cannellini beans in water, drained and rinsed
• 400g can of butter beans in water, drained and rinsed
• freshly ground black pepper

For the garnish

• handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• finely grated zest of ½ large orange, well scrubbed

prime30 days freeMissing an ingredient?✓ Free fast delivery   ✓ Cancel anytimeTry Prime freeUnderlined ingredients link to Amazon UK. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

1. Heat and brown: Heat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Then brush a large non-stick frying pan with the oil, using the tip of a pastry brush. Cook the sausages over a medium heat for 10 minutes, turning until browned all over.
2. Prep the veg and soften the onions: Meanwhile, trim the celery, peel the carrots and cut both into diagonal slices about 1.5cm thick. Then add the onions to the pan and cook with the sausages for 6 to 8 minutes, until softened and lightly browned.
3. Colour the chicken: Trim any visible fat from the chicken thighs, which a good pair of kitchen scissors makes easy, then cut them in half. Then add them to the pan with the garlic and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning twice, until coloured all over.
4. Build the casserole: Tip everything into a large flameproof casserole dish. Then stir in the gammon, celery, carrots, tomatoes, red wine and 300ml of cold water, and sprinkle over the sugar and chilli flakes.
5. Bake: Add the bay leaf and thyme and season with plenty of black pepper. Then bring to a simmer on the hob, cover and cook in the oven for 45 minutes.
6. Add the beans: Stir in both cans of beans, put the lid back on and return the dish to the oven for another 30 minutes.
7. Garnish and serve: While the beans cook, roughly chop the parsley and toss it with the orange zest. Then fish out the bay leaf and thyme stalks, and serve big portions in deep plates or wide bowls with the garnish on top.

FAQs

Is this a proper French cassoulet?

Not quite, because the French original from the Languedoc is slow-baked for hours. And a traditional cassoulet usually has duck or goose confit, pork and Toulouse sausage with dried white beans, often under a crust.

So I’d call this a quicker chicken and sausage cassoulet. But if you want something richer, their pork and bean casserole is what they call a cross between a cassoulet and Boston baked beans.

Why are there two calorie counts, 464 and 577?

In The Hairy Dieters it’s 464 calories a portion, but 577 is listed on BBC Food for the same recipe. And I don’t know why they differ, so I treat 464 as the book’s figure and 577 as a cautious upper estimate.

Is this the same as their sausage casserole?

No, because their great sausage casserole uses 12 pork sausages with bacon and beans in a spiced tomato sauce. But this cassoulet uses 6 sausages, swaps the bacon for chicken thighs and smoked gammon, and adds cannellini beans.

Meanwhile, their sausage and bean supper roasts sausages and butternut squash before the beans go in.

Can I make it in a slow cooker?

Yes, though the book has no slow cooker method, so this is my own guide. So brown everything as written and bring it to a simmer on the hob. Then cook it on low for about 7 hours, with the water cut to 150ml.

And stir the beans in for the last hour only, so they keep their shape.

Can I make it ahead or freeze it?

Yes to both, as my own guide rather than the book’s: up to 2 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. But cool it quickly, reheat it only once until piping hot, and add the parsley and orange garnish fresh.