a cassoulet is French dish originally hailing from the southern regions of France
it is essentially a type of stew made with meat, spicy sausage, smokey vacon, white beans )haricot or cannelinni) and tomatoes, cooked in a sauce of red wine and garlic. It was a peasant famers meal and as such is simple to cook, and relys on good ingredients. It would often be finished and served with crisp breadcrumbs sprinkled on top or what we call pork scratchings or pork crackling
often it would be made up and taken to the local butcher in the morning, so he could place it into his wood fired oven after the baking had been done and the cassoulet would cook slowly, with the oven slowly cooling down as the ambers died down
sainsbury's own brand of cumberland sausages are just great for this dish, which means if you can get the pheasants for free, this is a simple, nutritious and fairly cheap dish
pheasant breasts
4
pc
pheasant legs
4
pc
carrots
1
pc
celery stalk
1
pc
onion
1
pc
garlic clove
2 - 4
pc
wine - red
300
ml
tinned tomatoes
1
can
tinned white beans
1
can
thyme bunch
1
pc
bayleaf
1
pc
smoky bacon
200
gm
spicy sausages
4
pc
panko breadcrumbs
1
cup
pre-heat the oven to 150C
heat a large frying pan with a little oil, brown all the pheasant pieces and place into a large casserole dish
add a little butter or olive oil if required and add the vegetables cut into dice (approx. the same size as the beans) and cook gently until softened
add the sliced garlic cloves and and the wine and simmer until almost dry
add the tinned tomatoes and the drained beans, along with the herbs
add the bacon cut into thick batons, stir to combine
pour into the casserole dish on top of the pheasant and place the sausages on top
cover with a tight fitting lid and place into the oven
bake for approx 60 - 90 minutes until pheasant is tender
remove from the oven, place the breadcrumbs on top in piles more than lightly sprinkled and place under the grill until lightly browned
serve
chef notes
note the lack of seasoning, this will come from the natural salts in the ingredients
