This is a different take on the traditional French cassoulet in that it uses chorizo sausage as the main meat ingredient. Nevertheless, it kicks ass and is a really good winter warmer.
Ingredients:
200g good quality chorizo sausage
1 can of kidney beans, drained & washed
3 medium sized potatoes, washed and peeled
300g cherry tomatoes
1 large red onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pint of chicken stock
2 slices of bread
Some grated parmesan or other hard cheese
Vegetable/olive oil
1 tsp dried coriander
Salt & pepper
Preheat your oven to 210c. Dice the potatoes into decent, bite-sized, chunks. Not too big, not too small. Chop the chorizo into slightly smaller chunks. Again, not too big as you want to really get the flavour to be absorbed by the beans and potatoes. Chop the brown bread into small, crouton-sized chunks.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a casserole pot (I use a Creuset pot for this) on a medium to high heat. Add the garlic and the chorizo and fry for a minute or so. Next, add the onions and tomatoes and give everthing a good coat of the garlic, chorizo and oil. Add the coriander and season well with salt and pepper.
Allow to cook down for a couple of minutes then introduce the stock, potatoes and beans to the mix. Give everything a really good stir, then bring to the boil. Once it's boiling, transfer to the hot oven.
Allow to cook for 15 minutes, just enough to cook the potatoes. 5 minutes before the end, remove casserole from the oven, sprinkle with chopped bread and a generous amount of grated parmesan. Return to the oven for 5 minutes to finish.
Your cassoulet should be ready now. If you feel it's still too 'wet' return to oven. It should have the consistency of a good stew. Allow to rest for a couple of minutes before serving as it will be *really* hot.
Serve on warm dishes with a glass of inexpensive vin rouge.