Cassoulet with duck confit

Tamara West

Warren Elwin cooks cassoulet — quite possibly the ultimate slow food.

Confit duck

3	Duck legs (Main)
1	Bay leaf
1 handful	Fresh thyme, sprigs
3 cups	Duck fat, approximately (Main)

Cassoulet

1 Tbsp	Duck fat
1	Salt & freshly ground pepper, to season
800 g	Pork belly (Main)
6	Pork sausages, good quality
1	Onion, cut into 1cm dice
1	Carrot, large, cut into 1cm dice
2 stalks	Celery, cut into 1cm dice
1 piece	Ginger, 2cm, grated
1	Fennel bulb, cut into 1cm dice
3 cloves	Garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp	Dry mixed herbs
3	Bay leaves
2 cans	Butter beans, drained
1 can	Cannellini beans, drained
2	Tomatoes, diced
2 cups	Chicken stock, or vegetable stock
1	Lemon, juiced
1	Parmesan cheese, finely grated, to sprinkle
1 packet	Panko breadcrumbs

Directions

Duck confit

1. Liberally salt and pepper the duck and set aside to rest for an hour.
2. Place legs in a small baking dish and submerge in melted duck fat. Add bay leaf and thyme and braise in a 150C oven for 2 hours.
3. Remove dish from oven and set aside for the fat to cool. Refrigerate (with duck submerged) overnight.

Cassoulet

1. Remove the skin from pork belly, season liberally with salt and some freshly ground black pepper, then slow roast in a 150degC oven for 2 hours. When cool cut into 2cm dice.
2. Cook sausages until just browned (do not overcook them). Remove and cool, then cut into chunks. This can all be done the day before.
3. Heat duck fat in a casserole dish with a lid and fry the cubbed pork and sausage until coloured. Remove from the dish, retaining the fat.
4. To the remaining fat, add onion, carrot, celery, fennel bulb, ginger, garlic cloves, dried herbs, and bay leaves. Cook gently over a medium heat until fragrant and coloured, about 10 minutes.
5. Add the pork and sausage back to the dish with butter beans, cannellini beans and tomatoes. Stir to combine. Add stock and the juice of the lemon.
6. Top the dish with panko breadcrumbs and finely grated parmesan cheese. Bake in a 180degC oven until bubbling and golden, about 1hr 15 minutes.
7. Heat the duck confit in a hot oven until warmed through and the skin is crispy. Serve pieces of duck on top of spoonfuls of the cassoulet.