Chris Hardman's quick cassoulet with crushed baby potatoes

Serves: 4

Chris Hardman was a runner up in our Dishy Dads competition. He cooked this quick cassoulet with crushed baby potatoes in the final.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 Taste the Difference Toulouse-inspired pork sausages
• 4 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 x 160g pack Taste the Difference bacon lardons
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 250ml red wine
• 1 bouquet garni (thyme, parsley and a bay leaf)
• 200ml vegetable stock
• 2 tsp plain flour
• 250g baby Chantenay carrots, trimmed
• 1 x 410g tin butter beans
• 500g mini new potatoes
• 200g fine green beans, trimmed
• 1 tbsp chopped chives
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• a small bunch of watercress

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide saucepan and brown the sausages, then the chicken, all over, turning regularly, then remove from the pan and set aside.
2. In the same pan, add the chopped onion and lardons, sweat for 5 minutes then add the garlic and fry for 1 minute more. Return all the meat to the pan, add the wine and bring to the boil.
3. Once the wine is simmering, add the bouquet garni, vegetable stock and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes for 15-20 minutes, until tender, then drain.
4. Mix the flour with a little water to a smooth paste and stir into the pan after it's simmered for 15 minutes. Add the carrots, cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Boil or steam the green beans until tender.
5. Add the drained butter beans to the pan and continue to simmer gently, uncovered, for 4 minutes.
6. Crush the cooked and drained potatoes gently with a fork (you don't want to mash them), then mix in the chopped chives, extra-virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve a sausage and chicken thigh (or 2 sausages for the larger appetite) per person along with the potatoes (you can mould them in ramekins first if you like) and beans. Garnish with watercress.