Pirated Pantry BBQ Cassoulet

As the weather begins to turn cold, it’s time to start thinking about warm, cozy food. But I think often people assume that cold(er) weather means the end of grilling season. Not at my house! We cook year-round on our Traeger grills in our backyard and really enjoy trying new ideas, recipes and dishes that use the grill in unique ways. We actually cooked this dish back in late March when it was also sweater and stew weather, and are looking forward to making it again in the next few weeks. There is nothing quite like a rich stew and the addition of BBQ to it takes it over the top!

A cassoulet is a traditionally-French stew made of meats, sausage and beans. We figured this was totally achievable, with a bit of a backyard BBQ spin. So in an effort to pirate our pantry and not make another trip to the store during this interesting time in our world, we took an old classic recipe and made it our own.

The great thing about a recipe like this is that it can be adapted to what you have on hand. A classic cassoulet calls for duck confit, pork ragu and flageolet beans. Using what was on hand, we used leftover prime rib, pork chops, sausage and cannellini beans. If you don’t have cannellini beans, you can use a different type. And substitute out the meats for what you have on hand. It’s really an adaptable recipe that is delicious and has a rich BBQ flavor thanks to the addition of Head Country BBQ sauce in place of tomato puree.

Here’s our basic recipe. I can’t wait to hear about the cassoulet you create!
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INGREDIENTS:
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
4 cups cubed leftover grilled meat (we used equal parts grilled pork chops and prime rib)
1 sausage (we used a green chili sausage)
1 can of chicken stock
1 can of beans, drained (we used cannellini)
½ cup Head Country Apple Habanero BBQ sauce
2 slices of stale French bread

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat Traeger grill to high heat and preheat a cast-iron Dutch oven in the grill until very hot. Sauté onion in a few tablespoons of oil, until translucent.

While you sauté the onion, place the sausage next to the pan, and allow to cook. Add chopped meats to sautéed onions, and cook, stirring frequently until browned all over.

Pour chicken broth into Dutch oven, and deglaze the pan. Use a wooden spoon to free the browned bits from the pan. Bring to a simmer, then stir in drained beans and BBQ sauce. Cut cooked sausage into slices and stir into mixture.

Allow it to cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, while the sauce reduces. Place stale bread in grill and toast until brown and very dry. Then cool and break into large breadcrumbs.

When the meat/bean mixture has cooked for about an hour and thickened, stir one more time and then cover the surface with the bread crumbs. Cook for 15 minutes more, then remove from grill and allow to cool briefly.

Serve as-is, or spooned over pasta. Sprinkle with cheese if desired.

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As you can see, with a little time and barely any effort, you can have a delicious, rich and bbq-flavored cassoulet to serve your family on a cool fall night.

Give it a try with ingredients you have on hand, and let me know how it goes!