Tomato, chicken and butter bean cassoulet

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Tomato, chicken and butter bean cassoulet

Ingredients

Serves 4-5

5 chicken legs (includes 10 chicken joints – 5 thighs and 5 drumsticks)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
250g belly of pork (2 slices) rind removed, cut into 1 cm chunks
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 celery stalk, peeled and finely diced
1 small leek or half a large one, peeled and finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
400g chopped tomatoes
400g tin of water
400g tin butter beans
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 large tomatoes, cut into eighths
150g French beans, washed, tops removed and cut into 3
Large pinch Maldon Sea salt
Good grind black pepper
1 tablespoon of mixed chopped base herbs (rosemary, thyme and oregano)
1 bay leaf

Timings

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 40 minutes plus 10 minutes standing time

Tomato, chicken and butter bean cassoulet

A delicious juicy casserole full of the rusticness European cooking. It’s a great example of cooking using just one pot where the layers of ingredients can give your palette an adventure of different tastes and textures. I’m not talking Lasagne layers either! I’m talking about how you can layer ingredients in terms of what texture, colour and flavour you add to create a meal.

Method

Preheat the oven to 160/315/gas 2-3. You will need a large casserole dish with a lid.

Sprinkle the chicken with paprika, salt and pepper. Heat the oil in the casserole dish and brown the chicken, skin side down first. Once the chicken skin has started taking on a nice golden colour, turn it over and cook the flesh side for 3-4 minutes. Take out the chicken and leave on a plate to the side. You may need to do this in stages as you won’t want to overcrowd the pan.

Add the chopped belly of pork to the casserole dish and brown for 3 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside with the chicken. Add a tablespoon of water (be careful as there will be lots of steam) and scrape the bottom of the pan (where the flavour lies) until the water has almost evaporated. Add the onions, leeks and celery. Stir and cook for 4 minutes as the water continues to evaporate and the vegetables soften. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Add in the chopped tomatoes, fresh tomato chunks, water, butter beans, tomato puree, French beans, bay leaf, chicken and pork. Scatter with the herbs and season well.

Bring to a gentle boil, pop a lid on and place in the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes. Leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving to let the flavours infuse.

DOWNLOAD OR PRINT RECIPE HERE.