Lazy Pork Cassoulet

I like making this. Aside from the pork, all the ingredients used are what I consider store cupboard essentials and so even on days when the fridge is bare, you can rustle this up without the meat for a warming dinner that's full of flavour. Much better than resorting to the studentesque meals of pasta and ketchup. Below is my lazy cassoulet. It's lazy because rather than draining the butter beans I simply empty the entire contents of the can into the pot and instead of dissolving the sugar into the red wine vinegar for a reduction, like I probably should, I just add it to the pot willy-nilly. This dish tastes fantastic and the tomatoes, helped along with the sugar and red wine vinegar, really poke through in the dish. It's incredibly easy and when cooked slow the pork can hardly hold itself together.

Lazy Pork Cassoulet

1 lb diced pork shoulder
1 can of butter beans
1 can of plum tomatoes
2 medium red onions roughly chopped
1 carrot roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic grated
1 ltr veg stock
a bay leaf
1 tsp sugar
a good glug of red wine vinegar
chunk of good butter
salt and pepper to taste

In a high sided casserole or saucepan glug in some oil, I tend to use some home made chorizo oil and soften your onions. Add your pork and get some colour on the meat, add your grated garlic cloves and if you want to add some peppers as well then this is the time.

Tip your plum tomatoes in and squash with a wooden spoon in the pan so there are still some big chunks. Add your butter beans, juice and all, top up with your stock and add your bay leaf, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt and black pepper then bring to the boil.



Once boiling, cover with the lid and turn to the lowest setting and simmer for about an hour and a half to two hours. Check on the cassoulet after 40 minutes and give it a stir to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom, if it's looking a little too thick at this stage, add some water. You want the pork to collapse with the slightest interrogation from a fork. The consistency is down to your personal preference. I like mine quite thick, like tomato pasatta. Five minutes before you are ready to serve, remove your bay leaf, stir in a chunk of good butter, which will leave it glossy and check the seasoning. Ladle your cassoulet into bowls and serve with a chunk of crusty bread.