Classic French Chicken and Sausage Cassoulet

Ingredients
1 pound dried white beans (soaked and rinsed)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 large white onions (diced)
6 chicken sausages
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breast (cut into 1-inch pieces)
1 pound chicken legs
2 pounds tomatoes (seeded and chopped)
1 quart chicken stock
1 bouquet bouquet garni
3 clove garlic (chopped)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 carrot (peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon fresh parsley (finely chopped)
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme (finely chopped)
4 teaspoons butter (melted)

Steps to Make It

Place the beans in a large saucepan and cover them with cold water. Bring the beans to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook them until they begin to turn tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Place beans in small saucepan

Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper to the beans and cook until the liquid has absorbed, about 25 additional minutes.

Add salt to beans and water in pot.

Remove the beans from the heat, drain and discard any other liquid, and set the beans aside.

Remove beans from heat

Add the onions to the pan and sauté them for 10 minutes, until they turn light golden brown.

Add onions to pan
Brown the sausage and transfer it to a bowl.

Brown sausage
Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Drain all but 4 tablespoons of the fat from the skillet. Add the chicken breast pieces to the fat and brown them over medium-high heat. Transfer the chicken to the bowl with the sausage.

Sausage and chicken
Brown the chicken legs in the skillet. Then transfer them to the bowl.

Brown chicken legs
Combine the onions, sausage, chicken pieces and legs, tomatoes, chicken stock, bouquet garni, garlic, tomato paste, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper in a large casserole dish.

Combine onion and sausage
Cover with a lid or foil and bake the casserole for 25 minutes.

Cover with foil
Add the carrots to the pan, cover, and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Add carrots to pan
Add the reserved white beans to the hot casserole and gently stir the mixture.

Add white beans
In a small bowl, toss the bread crumbs, parsley, and thyme with the melted butter. Sprinkle the seasoned bread crumbs over the casserole.

Bake it, uncovered, for 1 hour.

Bake it uncovered
Discard the bouquet garni and serve the cassoulet hot.