Chicken, Andouille Sausage Cassoulet

I was surprised I hadn't blogged this recipe before as I've made it multiple times.  I had to dig up my recipe for it.  I'm not sure where the original came from now as its been years, but I spun my own take on it.  Ugh, company cancelled backyard dinner tonight staying home with COVID-19 symptoms.  I hope they are well and it doesn't turn out to be the virus.  Anyway, I was stuck now making all this food!!!  I was hoping to send some of it home with them too. ☹  I had everything out and ready to go, so had to proceed...and my freezer is jammed full, can't even put it there...

• 1/2 lb nitrate free bacon, cut into 1-inch slices
• 2 large Andouille sausages (get if from here!  Excellent!!!), cut into about 1-inch slices  

• 10 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on 
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 carrots stalks, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• Few sprigs fresh thyme, tied in twine
• 1-1/4 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 can (28 oz) San Marzano D.O.P. canned tomatoes
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 teaspoon organic sugar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups homemade low sodium chicken stock
• 2 cans cooked cannellini beans, rinsed well

• Handful fresh Italian parsley, chopped finely
• 2 cups panko (I had homemade bread crumbs so used 1/2 of each today)
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• Extra-Virgin olive oil, as needed
• 1 cup fresh Grana Padano cheese, grated finely

Preheat the oven to 250°F.  If you do 275°F, you can cook for 2 hours instead.  Add the bacon to a Dutch oven and put it on the stove over low heat. 

Render the bacon for about 10 minutes, until crisp. Remove and blot fat off on paper towels.

Fry the sausage until browned, remove.  Add to casserole dish (I used a deep dish lasagna pan which I used cooking spray on first).  Fry the chicken thighs until browned, remove.  Add to casserole dish.  You can see the top left thigh, where the skin came off.  This is because I tried to flip it too soon and the skin stuck to the pan.  You need to be patient and let it do its thing.  When it's ready to turn, the skin will not stick.

Over medium-high heat, add the onions, celery, carrots and garlic. 

Stirring every few minutes or so, cook until they are very tender and are beginning to become brown, about 15 minutes.  Add the thyme and paprika to the pot and cook for a couple minutes, until it’s very aromatic.

Deglaze the pot with the tomatoes, wine, vinegar and stock. Scrape any stuck bits of food from the bottom of the pot, back into the mixture.  Smash up the tomatoes.  Add bay leaves.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer to reduce the liquid by one third. This should take about 30 minutes.  Fold in the cooked cannellini beans and bacon.  Season generously with salt and pepper.  Pour the mixture into baking dish.  Remove bay leaves and thyme bundle.  

Add the parsley to the crumbs with olive oil and toss until well coated.  Sprinkle the mixture evenly on top of the cassoulet. 

Bake, tightly covered with foil for 3 hours.  Uncover.  Sprinkle cheese over and place under the broiler to brown the top, about a minute or two.  Gosh it smelled sooo good in here...

Let it rest for at least 20 minutes before serving.

As always, this is a favorite.  Nothing not to like about it.  Chicken is fall apart tender, sausage is super spicy and all flavor notes meld together in harmony.  There is reason this dish stays in my repertoire.  

I did invite another friend to come pick up some leftovers and visit tomorrow after work, but she chose to go home to her new air-fryer instead, so there you go.  I guess this is what's for lunch and dinner for a couple of days now....oh well, it could be worse...at least this was worthy of eating again, and again...