Cassoulet is a classic comfort food from the south of France. I never had it or even heard about it until just a few years ago. I guess having a french husband helped a little. If you’ve never heard about it, I could describe it as slow cooked beans and meat. In fact, the recipe and origin of cassoulet is very disputed. The recipe changes from cities to cities, the biggest difference being the type of meat used.

Having cassoulet when you don’t live in France is not easy, let alone good one. We tried to come up with a recipe that would be simple to make at home with easy to find ingredients. The result is close enough to the real cassoulet and most importantly it is tasty!

I use pork sausage but any kind would do. You could use meat like duck confit but I would rather use it in other ways. Really, the star of the dish are the beans. A nice thing to do is to drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on the side of the plate to eat with the cassoulet. If you’re looking for a great fall or winter comfort food recipe, then give this a try, I promise it’s super easy!

Nico’s wine pairing: A red wine with enough tannic structure to cut through the richness of cassoulet. A wine from the Languedoc region would be perfect. Think Minervois, Saint-Chinian, Côtes du Roussillon.