Cassoulet With Confit Duck

Cassoulet with confit duck usually reminds us of autumn, a warming dish to comfort you during the wet weather outside.

Method

1. For the duck confit, place the duck legs in a bowl, add salt, garlic, herbs and peppercorns and mix them together to coat the duck. Cover and refrigerate overnight to cure.
2. Preheat the oven to 140ºC/120ºC fan/gas mark 1. Rinse the duck, reserving the garlic and herbs, pat dry using kitchen towel and place in a baking dish. Pour over the duck fat, add the reserved herbs back in and cook for 3-4 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Allow it to cool completely in the fat and then refrigerate until required.
3. Drain the cannelloni beans, cover with plenty of water in a large saucepan. Bring it to a simmer and cook until soft, this can take around 40 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/gas mark 4. Fry the bacon and onion in a pan over medium heat until golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes, remove contents from the pan and keep aside.
5. Using the same pan; fry the sausages, turning occasionally until browned on all sides then remove from the pan and keep aside.
6. In the same pan; add the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock. Bring it to a simmer, add the onion mixture and sausages, along with confit duck legs and beans. Bring to a simmer and check for seasoning then transfer into a deep baking dish or an ovenproof casserole and cook for 1 hour, until the beans absorb all the sauce and are very tender.
7. Meanwhile, to make the toasted crumbs; blend the bread in a food processor to make breadcrumbs. Fry these in fat in a frying pan over medium hat until golden and crisp. Add parsley and garlic then fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Scatter evenly over the cassoulet along with chopped parsley.