Pork Cassoulet

Cassoulet is a classic French dish and Pinch of Nom include a budget-friendly version in their second book using diced pork and beans. Don’t be fooled by my photo – I made this for 3 people and hence my portion size was huge (but still only 444 calories). But if making this for 6,  as Pinch of Nom suggest, then you’ll still be full up if you have it with some healthy mash on the side.

Do try and use vegetable and red wine stock pots to enhance the taste (rather than cheap stock cubes), along with fresh thyme leaves if you can get them, otherwise this Pork Cassoulet dish could taste a tad bland. The Hairy Dieters do an all-singing, all-dancing cassoulet recipe in their first book which includes chicken, gammon and sausages, along with some orange zest and parsley. It’s a beast of a dish, but my son loves it ,so I’ll try and feature it on the blog next month.

If you love French classics, check out other suggestions here.

Recipe: Pork Cassoulet

Calories: 222 per serving (without mash and/or veg)

Serves: 6

Book: Pinch of Nom – Everyday Light

Prep time: Approx 15 mins

Cooking time: Approx 1 hour 20 mins

Ingredients:

• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 500g lean diced pork
• 1 large onion (peeled and roughly diced)
• 5 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed)
• 1 large carrot (peeled and thickly sliced)
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 tsp fresh or dried thyme
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 x 410g tin haricot beans (drained)
• 350ml vegetable stock (1 vegetable stock pot dissolved in 350ml boiling water)
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 red wine stock pot
• Fresh thyme (optional)
• Sea salt
• Ground black pepper

Cost per portion: Approx £0.92

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C / Fan 140 degrees C / gas mark 3. Place a large, ovenproof, hob-suitable casserole dish onto the hob (the pan should ideally have a lid, but you could cover it with foil), spray with low-calorie cooking spray and brown the pork over a medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add the onion, garlic and carrot to the pan and cook for 3 minutes to soften the veg a little. Add the tomato puree, thyme (if using fresh, just the leaves, not the stalks) and fennel seeds. Stir well to combine and cook for 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and mix. Pop the lid on (or cover the pan with foil) and place in the oven for 35 minutes.

After this, remove the lid, stir and place back in the oven for a further 35 minutes. Serve immediately, with a garnish of fresh thyme if desired. The cassoulet can also be frozen once cooled – defrost fully then reheat until piping hot.