Slow Cooker Cassoulet
Nathalie Dupree became the first woman since Julia Child to host more than a hundred cooking show episodes on public television. In one episode, she made a labor-intensive cassoulet, requiring 2-3 days and a whole host of ingredients. This remix takes its inspiration from the classic, but goes decidedly easy peasy on the preparation. Serves 2. Ingredients marked with a (v) can also be substituted with vegan versions. Note from Scott: Nathalie Dupree was Southern cuisine royalty. Even though I grew up eating and cooking incredible Southern dishes myself, I could always rely on Ms. Dupree to add an elegant twist to my favorites. For this remix, I’ve taken a few highlights from Nathalie’s cassoulet, and made it doable for the slow cooker. It’s rich, it’s savory — and it’s Southern comfort food at its best!
Recipe Ingredients
- For the cassoulet
- - 15 oz. can butter beans
- - 15 oz. can cannellini beans
- - 1/2 cup diced celery
- - 3/4 cup diced carrot
- - 1/2 cup diced onion
- - 1 small garlic clove (minced)
- - 3/4 cup tomatoes (canned or fresh)
- - 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- - 1 tablespoon herbs de Provence
- - 1 bay leaf
- - 1/2 to 1 beef bouillon cube (v)
- - 1/2 cup shredded cooked chicken (v)
- - 2 Italian sausages, 3-4 oz. per piece (v)
- For the topping:
- - 1 cup seasoned stuffing mix (v)
- - 2 tablespoons butter (v)
Recipe Instructions
For the cassoulet:
- Brown sausages in a pan and cut into coins.
- Add all ingredients to a two-quart slow cooker. (If yours is larger, that's fine, too!)
- Set to low, your cassoulet will be ready in 6-8 hours. Set to medium, it’ll take 3-4 hours.
- Check your cassoulet after about five hours. If it’s got a lot of liquid, adjust the lid to create a small space for venting. This will help some of the liquid evaporate.
- The cassoulet is ready when it looks rich and thick.
For the topping:
- Crush stuffing mix into crumbs.
- Melt butter over medium heat and add the crumbs.
- Stir continuously until the crumbs are browned.
- Top a bowl of your cassoulet with these buttery, toasted crumbs.