Here's a recipe that's really more of a winter comfort food. Of course it was below freezing this first morning of April, so we may have a few more "winter" meals ahead of us before we switch over to the grill.
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| Your cassoulet will have flavorful green flecks of fresh parsley. I forgot to buy parsley, but it was still pretty yummy. |
Vegetarian Cassoulet
Stew ingredients
¼ cup oil
1 onion, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp Penzey’s Parisien Bonnes Herbes (ok to leave out or substitute any sweet, mild herbs – marjoram, chervil, chives)
1 bay leaf
Pepper (to taste)
4 (15 oz.) cans Great Northern beans, drained/rinsed
About 2 tbls. tomato paste
2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
4 cups vegetable broth
1 large baking potato, peeled and diced
About 1 cup of vegetarian sausage, pan-fried and drained
(I used a Smart sausage labeled “sausage style,” which tastes like a breakfast-sausage flavor to me. I would not use Italian-style.)
Bread crumb topping ingredients
Coarse-chopped French bread, about 4 cups. (Chop the bread into pieces smaller than croutons but bigger than crumbs)
Scant ¼ cup olive oil. Lower-fat option: spray olive oil
Garlic powder
Fresh parsley, about 1/4 cup chopped
Ingredient Note 1: About tomatoes. One meat-containing recipe for cassoulet that we like, from Real Simple, does not include any tomato paste and has only 1 small can tomatoes. It makes more of a white bean stew. This version has a more Italian flavor - they're almost completely different dishes. If this recipe is too in-your-face, try the Real Simple version and either skip the sausage or substitute vegetarian.
Ingredient Note 2: Seasonal options. This is more of a winter dish for us, so I use dried herbs and canned tomatoes. Some versions of cassoulet include fresh chopped tomatoes and fresh sprigs of thyme, which sounds delicious but we didn’t have them on hand in February.
Make the stew:
In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-low to medium heat. Add chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes until everything is starting to soften. Add thyme, bonnes herbes, bay leaf, pepper, beans, tomato paste, canned tomatoes and broth. Partially cover pot and allow to simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until carrots are soft.
Add the cooked sausage and the diced potato. If stew is too liquid, remove the lid completely. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes to allow potato to cook and sausage flavor to mix.
While stew is simmering, make the breadcrumbs:
Heat oven to 350. Put bread pieces in a largish bowl. Toss with olive oil (or spray generously with spray olive oil). Sprinkle in garlic powder generously, tossing until coated. Spread on a (ungreased) baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, turning once and keeping an eye on them – baking time will vary depending on the moisture of the bread and size of the crumbs. Toss cooked breadcrumbs with parsley.
Serve the cassoulet in bowls garnished generously with breadcrumbs. Recipe serves 6-8.
