Sausage & Pearl Barley Cassoulet

I absolutely love autumnal hearty food and cassoulet is the best of a stew and bangers and mash (that is, if you serve it with mash!)

Cassoulet originates from the southern regions of France and would typically contain pork sausages, haricot beans and use duck or goose fat as a base for the sauce. It's named after it's cooking pot the cassole- a deep earthenware pot.

I would always use a herby/peppery sausage for this dish. Lincolnshire or Cumberland would be ideal. My recipe has some personal touches. The pearl barley bulks the dish out and the black pudding adds a rich peppery note to it, but you can leave it out and/or add extra vegetables such as parsnips or turnips if you wish!

One time I made this dish I didn't have any potatoes but had a large swede in the fridge and would highly recommend serving the cassoulet with mashed swede as the creamy flavour of the swede balances well with the richness in the cassoulet.

Ingredients

9 Large sausages

400g Shallots

500g Chantenay Carrots

100g Black pudding

100g Pearl barley

400g Tin chopped tomatoes

400g Tin baked beans

1tbsp Tomato puree

1tbsp Dijon mustard

1tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 Knorr rich beef stock pots (or similar)

500ml Red wine

Salt & Pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celcius. Peel and take the tops of the carrots, peel the shallots and chop the black pudding into 1cm thick discs

Pour half a tbsp of olive oil into a frying pan and turn the hob onto a high heat. Brown off the sausages and cook the black pudding lightly on both sides. Transfer the meat to a casserole or oven proof dish

In the same pan melt a knob of butter and add the vegetables- cook for 5 minutes and transfer them to the casserole as well.

Pour the wine into the pan along with the chopped tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard and tomato puree and some salt & pepper. Heat for 5 minutes, then pour into the casserole.

Clear any residue in the pan with around 100ml of water and pour that into the casserole along with the pearl barley and baked beans. Cover and place in the oven to cook for around 1 hour- making sure to stir and taste for seasoning. If you need to thicken the sauce, put 1tbsp of cornflour into a mug and stir in some warm water and add to the dish- return for to the oven for 10 minutes to cook off the cornflour.