For The Love of Breadcrumbs
Labor Day Cassoulet
What comes to mind when you hear “cassoulet”? Some suggestions: wool socks, roaring fires, a magnum of Bordeaux, and perhaps the need to Google the word cassoulet. But likely not Labor Day. Until now.
I’ll spare your search engine: Cassoulet (rhymes with the three-day weekend upon us) is a wintery, slow-cooked bean stew, French in origin, with an amalgam of meats and aromatics, topped off with a crust of breadcrumbs. It’s what’s called for when you’ve run outta firewood.
In my Martha Stewart television days, I made her epic rendition (serves 100) for her Christmas show. It cooked in a caldron large enough to rival the size of my Brooklyn bathtub. Oh, the geese, the ducks, the lamb, the pork, the pancetta, the sausage… quite the circus. With such a whacky menagerie tied to my memory of the dish, I couldn’t help but develop a recipe polar opposite, perfect for making new memories: A vegetarian, vegan (minus the optional cheese), late-summer cassoulet. To call my own. That serves… about 8.
The inspo? These beans:
They’re Calypsos from Beanstory. They’re a super cool new company à la Rancho Gordo that sources all of their beans from small, organic US farms committed to regenerative growing practices. And they’ve turned me into a bean-cooker. (I’ve never truly embraced the movement, but for no good reason. Maybe I was just waiting for the right specimen.)
This is a low-labor recipe– fitting for this weekend– and easy to assemble ahead of time. But it all requires some forethought: Soaking beans overnight is easy-breazy-lemon-beansy. (You can always opt for a quick soak instead, which just involves bringing the beans to a boil in water, letting sit for an hour or two, and draining. Instructions in the recipe.) Katherine Yaphe, founder of Beanstory, says this about soaking: “I like the ritual of it. Think about soaking beans as setting an intention for the following day. When I see the bowl in the morning, I know exactly what I’m cooking that day. Done.” I love that.
Order of Ops
Soak beans. Drain beans. Cook beans in water and a ton of aromatics. The resulting broth– flavor-rich and concentrated– becomes the base for this toss-it-all-together mix of fresh corn, beans, and roasted Jimmy Nardello peppers.
Create a crust with tons of olive oil’d, parm-y breadcrumbs. Bake, and finish with a zingy tomato-cuke-burrata salad and enough herbs for a small village on top.
And in case you need another dish or two at your picnic or party this weekend, here’s a roundup of past NOODLEs that’ll make great contenders:
CHEESY, PUFFY PIGS-IN-BLANKETS WITH SOPPRESSATA, FENNEL SEED, AND HERBS
SESAME-CRUSTED SMASHED POTATOES WITH DREAMY CREAMY GREEN TAHINI SAUCE AND LABNE
GRILLED LEMONGRASS SHORT RIBS with SWEET PICKLED JALAPEÑOS AND CRISPY RICE
Now get your soak on. Deets below.
LABOR DAY CASSOULET
Serves 8
REMEMBER, BEST PRACTICE: READ THE RECIPE START TO FINISH BEFORE YOU BEGIN COOKING!
Use whatever aromatics you have lying around when cooking the beans, even if they’re not listed in the recipe. Throw in some celery, shallots, a carrot, different spices, some chicken wings. Whatever’s your pleasure, really. Get out your herbs for this recipe, and don’t hold back! You’ll use them every step of the way: when cooking the beans, when baking the cassoulet, in the tomato-cucumber salad, and for serving.
I freeze bean cooking liquid because with all that flavor and time spent simmering, that stuff is flavorful gold! Freeze and use as you would chicken stock.
1 pound dried beans of choice, such as Calpyso, cranberry, or any white variety
1 bulb fennel, quartered (stalks and fronds included)
1 onion, quartered
10 cloves garlic, smashed
7 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more for roasting peppers, dressing salad and serving
1 ½ teaspoons fennel or coriander seeds
2 dried chiles, toasted (such as guajillo or ancho) or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 large lemon, peels removed in strips using a vegetable peeler
½ bunch herbs for cooking beans, such as parsley, thyme, or cilantro
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound Jimmy Nardello peppers (or mini bell peppers)
2 cups panko
⅓ cup finely grated (lightly packed) Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 quart cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Persian cucumbers, or equivalent in any other variety
Vinegar of choice (such as red wine, white wine, or sherry) or lemon juice
Large handful herbs for salad, like basil, cilantro, tarragon, parsley, and/or mint
8 ounces burrata
1. Soak the beans: Place 1 pound dried beans in a large bowl and cover with water by an inch or two. Let sit overnight until plumped. You can also quick soak the beans by placing them in a large pot with water and bringing everything to a simmer. Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit 1-2 hours.
2. Cook the beans: Drain the beans and give them a good rinse. Add them to a large pot with a tight fitting lid, along with 1 quartered bulb fennel, 1 quartered onion, 6 cloves smashed garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons fennel or coriander seeds, a couple of dried toasted chiles or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, half of the lemon peels, about ½ bunch herbs, 2 tablespoons salt, and a hefty amount of black pepper.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and cover, adjusting the flame to maintain a strong, steady simmer, checking and giving a stir from time to time, until beans are tender, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Halfway during cooking, taste the cooking liquid for salt. It should taste… well-salted! Adjust as needed.
Remove pot from heat and season to taste the beans for salt (yes, AGAIN). At this point, if I have time (and I normally build it in), I let beans sit in the liquid for a bit to further absorb flavor. You can do this step 1-2 days in advance. Keep covered in the refrigerator.
When ready to assemble the cassoulet, drain the beans from their cooking liquid, reserving 1 cup of the broth for use now and the rest for another use. Discard aromatics, except for the pieces of onion, fennel, and garlic that are so soft they’ve essentially become part of the beans. Note: If the broth doesn’t taste super concentrated and aromatic, return to the pot over medium-heat and boil until reduced.
3. Roast the peppers: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add 1 pound Jimmy Nardello peppers and the remaining 4 smashed garlic cloves to a 2-3 quart baking dish or a large, ovenproof skillet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until deeply golden and shriveled, about 25 minutes.
4. Make the breadcrumbs crust: In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups panko, ⅓ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss with your hands to thoroughly coat the panko in the oil.
5. Assemble the cassoulet: Add 3 ears corn kernels, the cooked beans, ½ cup bean soaking liquid, the remaining lemon peels, and 3 tablespoons olive oil to the baking dish with the peppers. Toss to combine. Add a bit more bean cooking liquid if necessary; the level of liquid should be below the surface because you don’t want the panko to sink in, but you don’t want the cassoulet to be dry, either.
Sprinkle the panko on top of the bean mixture and transfer to the oven. Bake until the top has turned into a crust and is thoroughly golden, about 25 minutes.
6. While the cassoulet bakes, assemble the cucumber-tomato salad: Combine 1 quart cherry tomatoes, 2 sliced Persian cucumbers or any variety of summer cukes you have, and a large handful of herbs of your choice. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar of choice, and season generously with salt and pepper. (This can also be done up to 6 hours in advance. Omit herbs until ready to serve.)
7. Top the cassoulet with the cucumber-tomato salad just before serving. Tear 8 ounces burrata into pieces and distribute on top. Drizzle with olive oil, more salt and herbs, and dive in. You can serve everything room temp, but there’s something about the contrast between hot cassoulet and cold summery things that really evokes the transition of summer into fall.
