- Serves: 6

Ingredients
- 250g - cannellini beans, soaked overnight
- 80g - streaky bacon, cut in lardons
- 1 - onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp - olive oil
- 400g - chopped tinned tomatoes
- 300ml - chicken stock
- 8 mini Toulouse sausages
- 1/4 bunch - flat leaf parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- FOR THE DUCK CONFIT
- 4 - duck legs
- 100g - salt
- 2 - cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 -sprigs thyme
- 2 - bay leaves
- 4 - black peppercorns
- 700g - duck fat, melted
- FOR CRUMB TOPPING
- 150g - sliced white bread, crust removed
- 1 1/2 tbsp - duck fat
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/4 buch halt leaf parsley, chopped
Cassoulet with confit duck usually reminds us of autumn, a warming dish to comfort you during the wet weather outside.
Method
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Using the same pan; fry the sausages, turning occasionally until browned on all sides then remove from the pan and keep aside.
- 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.
- 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.