Ingredients
Serves 6-8

• Glug of olive oil
• 4 duck legs, sliced between the drumstick and thigh
• 8 Toulouse sausages
• 2 red onions, cut into wedges
• 3 rashers pancetta, diced
• 1 whole bulb garlic, sliced in half horizontally
• Small bunch of thyme
• 3 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp sherry vinegar
• 1 red chilli
• 500ml good chicken stock
• 2 x 400g cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 baguette, ripped into pieces

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Put a flameproof oven dish or deep, sturdy tray on the hob and heat it up with a glug of olive oil. Season the duck with salt and pepper and add it to the oil with the sausages. Seal everything over a high heat until brown on every side. Take the meat out and let it rest to one side.
2. Don’t wash the dish, all those lovely crispy bits are gold. Throw in the red onions, the diced rashers of pancetta and the garlic, cut side down. Season with salt and pepper then pick in some thyme. Give it a stir. Then in with the tomatoes, the sherry vinegar and the chilli; score down the side of the chilli to let out fragrance but not too much heat.
3. Then add the chicken stock, stir and add the cannellini beans. Nestle the meat back into the beans and tomatoes. Wrap in kitchen foil – shiny side down to reflect the heat – and into the oven for 1 hour.
4. After the hour, rip up some baguette and sprinkle it on top – it will soak up the fat from the meat. Put the cassoulet back into the oven without the foil for another 30 minutes. Serve with a green salad.