Merguez Cassoulet
This hearty cassoulet style dish offers something familiar, and yet something rather unique. In place of traditional pork sausages we’ve used spiced lamb sausages - merguez sausages from the truly exceptional butchers, Swaledale. These sausages hail from North Africa, and we’ve sought to compliment their incredible flavour with some punchy and aromatic spices and seasonings; garlic, red chilli, coriander seeds, fennel, and thyme all run through the cassoulet base.
Swaledale’s sausages are made with heritage breed minced lamb shoulder, and an award-winning blend of spices; they are truly exceptional and it was a joy to create this recipe for them.
In place of the traditional confit duck you would find in a cassoulet we’ve opted for Suffolk’s finest - Sutton Hoo. The chicken is rubbed with some oregano, sesame and sumac before joining the roasting dish.
Flavoursome, deeply comforting, and spot on for the changing seasons… if the sun’s shining, serve with crusty bread and a bitter leaf salad; if it’s chilly, go for sautéed leafy greens or roasted squash.
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 1 hr 25 mins (45 mins oven time)
This recipe serves 4.
Cassoulet base:
4 tbsp olive oil
2 brown onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 red chillies, finely chopped
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp sea salt
4 sprigs thyme
200 ml white wine
2 tins haricot beans
200 ml creme fraiche
Sausage & chicken:
4 Swaledale Lamb Merguez sausages
1 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken thighs
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 ½ tsp dried oregano
1 ½ tsp sumac
1 tsp flakey sea salt
parsley, to garnish
Method:
Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large ovenproof casserole or gratin dish.
Add the diced onions, and sauté for 8-10 minutes until soft and translucent or lightly golden; a little caramelisation adds good flavour.
Next add the garlic, carrots, celery, chilli, and 1 teaspoon of flakey sea salt, and continue to sauté for another 12 minutes. Stir often.
Meanwhile, dry toast the coriander and fennel in a small saucepan over a low heat for 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Stir often and remove from the heat immediately as soon as you can smell their aroma being released. Grind in a pestle and mortar then add to the onions etc.
After the carrots etc have sautéed for 12 minutes, add the white wine and simmer on a medium/high heat for 2 minutes.
Turn the heat back to medium and add the drained beans as well as 1 ½ tins of water. Bring this to a simmer for 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
In a clean mixing bowl toss the chicken thighs with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the sesame seeds, oregano, sumac and sea salt. Coat evenly.
When your oven is preheated, turn the heat off under your beans and stir through the crème fraîche.
Nestle the chicken thighs and sausages on top of the beans and pop in the oven for 45 minutes. If you would prefer a little more colour on the chicken and sausages, turn on the grill for the final 5-10 minutes.
Allow the cassoulet to stand for 5 minutes before tucking in.
Various chutneys and relishes will all go very well; a quick garlic & lemon yogurt is a great addition, as well as a tomato and parsley salsa.