A delicious sausage cassoulet for all the family!
After getting snowed in for a day or so, I found myself slowly going mad with boredom. It was one of those days where I found myself switiching between tv channels watching a number of different food based programmes. Even though these are usually my favourite programmes to watch, I even found myself getting itchy feet watching them. Re-runs of Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals were being shown and I found myself tutting and thinking not again.
I stopped myself however, realising I hadn’t seen this particular episode, where Jamie whips up his ‘kinda sausage cassoulet’ with a warm broccoli salad and meringues. Obviously the meringues, topped with lemon curd, berries and greek yoghurt got me ruing my Lent predicament. But, the cassoulet and broccoli made me think oh yum! What better way to warm up from the bitter cold than to make a cassoulet using ingredients from the stock cupboard a la Nigel Slater.
As I salivated watching Jamie throw every ingredient into the pan with bounds of enthusiasm with no regard for keeping his kitchen clean, (my mum notes this with a sigh each time she watches him cook) making the 30 min deadline with ease, I thought I want to make that.
Remembering usefully that we have a copy of Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals, I set about preparing my ingredients. As usual, my recipe differs from Jamie’s according to what ingredients I had in my store cupboard and to my habit of deleting or adding ingredients out of my inventiveness. Jamie’s recipe says, “to start get all your equipment and ingredients ready.” By the time I had chopped and got all my ingredients out, I had nearly used up the first half of my 30mins. Just as well I didn’t have a deadline Mr Oliver! The 30min title is questionable and needs stretching a little to allow for preparation time!
Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals
Jamie advises using a roasting tin to cook the cassoulet, putting it on a gas cooker. Unfortunately, I don’t have a gas cooker, so it was a Le Creuset oval casserole pot which I put on the hob. Jamie puts his chipolata sausages in the oven for 8 minutes before putting it in the cassoulet tin to finish. However, because I used cumberland sausage which I cut into chunks, the sausage needed longer, so I put them in the oven for half an hour before putting them back into the cassoulet at the last minute.
Cumberland sausage
Jamie recommends using thick slices of bread to make the breadcrumbs, but I used a french baguette because I had one in the house. I decided to leave out the bay leaves, but I added a tsp or two of chilli. Jamie continually adds sage in his method. He adds some when cooking the veg, then some to the breadcrumbs then some to the top of the breadcrumbs. I decided I would probably be saged out, so I decided not to add some to the top of the breadcrumbs. He also adds two layers of breadcrumbs, one below the sausages and another on the top. I bucked all of my breadcrumbs onto the top of the sausages! Otherwise, I stuck to Jamie’s method.
sage breadcrumbs
While the broccoli looked good and appealing to the eye on the programme. We all agreed after cooking, that we didn’t like the cold sauce on the broccoli. I personally thought it was overly lemony. The method said to grate the onion and tomatoes, but without suitable grating equipment, I decided to use the food processor again for ease. The broccoli sauce might have worked on a fresh, hot summery day but in the depths of a spring which feels more like winter, the broccoli sauce wasn’t the best accompaniment. I have included the method if you would like to try it, but you could easily just serve broccoli with the cassoulet.
warm broccoli salad
Another criticism of Jamie’s book is that each dish in the 30min meal is mixed together in the method. This can make it a little awkward to follow especially if you are following the deadline!
Kinda Sausage Cassoulet served with a warm broccoli salad
What you need
For the cassoulet:
4 rashers of smoked bacon
1 1/2 red onions
fresh rosemary sprigs
a small bunch of fresh sage
2 tsp chilli powder
2 leeks
400g Cumberland sausage
Half a french baguette
2 cloves of garlic
680g of passata
400g of butter beans
400g of haricot beans
For the broccoli:
400g tenderstem broccoli
1/4 red onion
1 clove of garlic
2 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
1 lemon
Extras:
olive oil
salt and pepper, for seasoning
Method
1) Cut the Cumberland sausage into chunks about 2-3 inches long and add to a roasting tin with a glug of oil. Cook in the oven for about 30mins or until brown and cooked through.
Cumberland sausages ready for roasting in the oven
2)Cut the smokey bacon into chunks and add to a casserole pot with a little olive oil. Fry on a high heat. Halve, peel and slice the red onions for the cassoulet.
Chopped onions
Chop the rosemary and sage. Keep a little sage back for the breadcrumbs. Add the onions, rosemary and sage to the pot.
Chopped rosemary and sage
Trim the leeks and remove the outer leaves. Wash and then slice.
sliced leeks
Add the leeks to the pot and a few splashes of boiled water. Stir the ingredients and leave to soften. Stir again after about 10mins.
Allow the vegetables to soften
3) Tear the baguette, using only the inside soft bread which should be put into a food processor in chunks. Add some salt, pepper, the reserved sage, 2 cloves of garlic and a drizzle of oil. Pulse until you have even breadcrumbs.
Sage breadcrumbs
4) Stir the passata, the butter beans and the haricot beans into the cassoulet. Add the chilli powder.
5) Peel the red onion for the broccoli sauce and chop finely. Add to the food processor (taking out the breadcrumbs and washing before) Add a clove of garlic, then the chopped tomatoes. Add some olive oil and season. Then squeeze in the juice of a lemon and mix.
6) Cook the broccoli. Trim the ends and heat a saucepan of water. Put the broccoli into the water stalks down and put on the lid. Bring to the boil and cook for a few minutes until tender.
7) Back to the cassoulet: Add the cooked sausages to the pot. Mine formed a layer. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and put the pot into the oven for 4mins or until the breadcrumbs are a golden brown.
8) Serve the cassoulet. Drain the broccoli and pour over the cold sauce. (if desired)
How did it taste? The dish was warming and thoroughly delicious. It was hearty and flavoursome. It’s a great budget family meal. We decided we didn’t like the sauce but this element can easily be left out. Enjoy!
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