Chicken and sausage cassoulet

Step 2

Place the beans in a bowl, cover them with water – about 3 centimetres above the beans – and add a teaspoon of salt. Allow to stand at room temperature overnight. Drain the beans and rinse with clean water, then place in a medium saucepan and cover with water again. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 40 minutes then drain.

Step 4

Heat your oven to 150C fan-forced (160C conventional). Heat a large, wide, oven-proof frying pan (or use a heavy baking dish) over medium heat. Add the oil and fry the chicken drumsticks, sausages and speck or bacon until browned. Remove from the pan (if using bacon pieces you can leave these in the pan). Add the onion, carrot and celery and fry for about 10 minutes until fragrant. Add the beans to the pan and stir to coat and combine. Add the passata, chicken stock, bay leaves, thyme and salt and stir.

Step 6

Arrange the chicken, sausages, and speck back in the pan, pressing them into the mixture until halfway submerged. Bake for 90 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Scatter with parsley and serve.

Step 7

Tip: I prefer to use dried beans as I think they have a better flavour and soaking overnight takes no effort at all, but if you're pressed for time then use canned and skip the soaking. Click here for more tips including which meats to buy

Step 8

Also try: Adam Liaw's brown sugar, apricot and almond slice