Merguez and white bean cassoulet with zhug
This recipe puts a twist on cassoulet, infusing it with the vibrant flavours of merguez sausage, harissa, tomatoes, and white beans, all crowned with zesty lemony yogurt and spicy zhug sauce.
Servings: 4 Proplr
Ingredients
For the Cassoulet:
- 4 Merguez sausages or your preferred sausage
- 5 Cherry tomatoes halved
- 3 tablespoons Harissa paste
- 1 Red chili finely chopped
- 50 grams Black olives halved
- 250 ml Beef stock
- 400 grams Chopped tomatoes
- 1 x 700g jar of Bold Bean Co Organic White Beans or 2 x 400g tins of haricot or cannellini beans
- 1 teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 1 red onion finely diced
- 3 Garlic cloves grated
- 1 tablespoon Tomato paste
For the Yogurt:
- 2 heaped tablespoons Natural yogurt
- A large pinch of za'atar
- 1 Lemon juiced
- 1 Garlic clove grated
For the Zhug:
- A handful of parsley roughly chopped
- A handful of coriander roughly chopped
- 1 Green chili finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Ground coriander
- 1 Lemon juiced
- Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180℃. Begin by browning your sausages in an oven-safe pan with a dash of oil over high heat. No need to cook them through; the oven will handle that. Once they have a lovely brown crust, remove them from the pan. You can slice or leave them whole, as you prefer. Set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the diced onion to the same pan along with a knob of butter. When the onions start to soften, add your garlic and chopped chili. Cook until fragrant, then add paprika, tomato paste, and harissa paste. Cook for a few minutes until everything caramelises and darkens.
- Incorporate cherry tomatoes and canned tomatoes along with the stock. Stir well, then add olives and drained white beans. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Nestle your sausages back into the pan, then place it in the oven for 30 minutes or until the sausages are fully cooked.
- While the cassoulet is baking, prepare your sauces. To make zhug, add parsley, coriander, chili, cumin, ground coriander, lemon juice, and red wine vinegar to a food processor or blender. Pulse until everything becomes smooth and well combined. Adjust the texture by adding olive oil to your preference. Taste for seasoning and set aside.
- In a small bowl or jug, combine yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, za'atar, salt, and pepper.
- Once the sausages are cooked, remove the pan from the oven. Drizzle over zhug and yogurt, then serve with crusty bread and lemon wedges.