Ingredients
1 pound butter beans, yellow eye beans or traditional tarbais beans
1 bay leaf
1 onion, sliced in half
1 whole garlic head, sliced in half
1 whole lamb shoulder or shank, about 4 pounds
1 bottle red wine
1 12-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes
1 whole Robin’s Koginut squash, deseeded, cut into thick wedges*
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup panko
1 bunch parsley
4 tablespoons butter
4 large carrots, diced
Method
Beans
- Soak beans in water the night before cooking.
- Place beans in a soup pot and add water to cover.
- Add bay leaf, onion, garlic and salt to taste.
- Bring water to a simmer and cook beans until they are creamy throughout, but not falling apart.
- Remove from heat and let beans cool in the liquid. Reserve.
Lamb
Heavily salt the lamb the night before cooking.
Preheat oven to 300ËšF.
- In a large pan, sear the lamb over high heat until it is browned thoroughly.
- Place the lamb in a baking pan and deglaze the browning pan with the bottle of red wine and a can of tomatoes. Pour the deglazing liquid over the lamb.
- Cover the pan with tin foil and braise the lamb in 300ËšF oven until the meat easily separates from the bone, about 4 to 6 hours.
- Remove lamb from the oven and allow to cool in the liquid until it is cool to the touch.
- Pull meat off the bone with your hands—try to keep it in large pieces. Add any remaining tomato chunks to the meat and strain juices over the meat. Set aside.
Squash
Preheat oven to 400ËšF.
- Place squash wedges on a baking sheet or tray.
- Drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil and salt.
- Bake in 400ËšF oven until just cooked throughout, about 12 to 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and set aside.
Breadcrumbs
- Place panko breadcrumbs and the whole bunch of parsley (including stems) in a food processor. Process until panko is fine and bright green.
- Melt butter in large pan. Add panko/parsley mixture and cook over medium heat until well browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cassoulet
Preheat oven to 400ËšF.
- In large Dutch oven, sauté diced carrots in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Strain beans from liquid and place the beans in an even layer in the Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat until bean mixture starts to thicken and some beans break apart.
- Place shredded lamb meat into the beans on one side of the pot; place cooked squash wedges into the beans on the other side. Pour some of the lamb cooking juices over all.
- Bake in 400ËšF oven until nicely browned.
- Cover mixture with breadcrumbs and serve immediately.
*Robin’s Koginut squash is a new, specially bred butternut squash variety developed by Row 7, a seed- and plant-breeding company started by Dan Barber (Blue Hill at Stone Barns) in collaboration with sweetgreen, a sustainable food supply company. The squash should be available in select markets in November. For more information, visit row7seeds.com and sweetgreen.com.