Cooking On The Range: Comfort Food Cassoulet

Now, if you're in search of a healthy, hearty meal, that is rich and juicy then this is just the thing. Comprising everything that one could want in a dish, I will admit that I was a little sceptical, as this isn't the sort of thing that I usually go for. However, I adapted it slightly to fit a palette and when I tasted it, I would happily have paid a tenner for this in a restaurant, and still wanted seconds. It a great feast for friends and family coming over, and is sure to put smiles on faces, and a warm feeling in everyone's tum.

Ingredients (Serves 6-8);

5 x 220g Tins of Butterbeans in water
2 Gammon Steaks
4 tbsp Olive Oil
8-Pack of Thick Pork Sausages
2 Onions, Chopped
1 Large Carrot, Chopped
4-6 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
3 Bay Leaves
2 tsp Dried Thyme
2 Whole Cloves
3 tbsp Tomato Puree
12 Sun-dried Tomatoes in Oil, Drained and coarsely chopped
75g White Breadcrumbs
50g Butter
Freshly Ground Salt and Pepper

Use a large, Deep Casserole Dish

Preheat the Oven to Gas Mark 4 / 350'F / 180'C. Drain all the tins of Beans in a cullender and leave to drain while you prepare the other ingredients. Remove the Rind of the Gammon Steaks (I chucked mine out for the birds, very good for them ;) ) and cut the flesh into large pieces straight into a large saucepan. Add 2 tbsp of the Olive Oil to the pan and brown all the pieces. Then place them on a separate plate. Leave the Oil in the pan and add the last tablespoons. Cut the sausages into quarters and add to the pan. Brown these in he same way, and add to the plate with the gammon. Next, add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, tomato puree, carrot, dried thyme and cloves to the pan and stir together. Then add the Sun-dried tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes until everything starts to soften. Remove the bay leaves and cloves, so no one gets a nasty surprise in their dinner.

Now Assemble the dish. Put half the beans in the base of the casserole dish, followed by an even layer of all the meats. Season this well to taste with salt and pepper, and cover with the remaining beans. Then add enough hot water to the dish so that the beans are almost covered. Sprinkle evenly with the breadcrumbs and chop the butter into pieces and scatter evenly over the top. Leave the lid off and bake in the oven for about 1 hour, until the top is crispy and golden. And as always, Enjoy!

Drain the beans well, and hake a few times if necessary to remove the excess liquid

Only Just brown the meat, as you don't want it to burn, and gammon doesn't brown that well so down;t be tempted to overcook it

Do the same with the sausages, which can be painful, and I had to avoid many spitting attempts. Just brown them again, as they will cook later and remove to the same plate as the gammon

Mix all the ingredients together to make a beautiful tomatoey mixture. Don't over-mix, just make sure they are all combined, and cook until the carrot just starts to soften