Swine & Sea — Chaurice & White Bean Gratin — French Creole Recipe

Chaurice & White Bean Gratin

Chaurice & White Bean Gratin is cassoulet logic built
for a weeknight: white beans, aromatics, and Chaurice baked until the edges
tighten and the top goes bronze. The discipline is in the fundamentals—brown
the sausage properly, cook the tomato paste until it smells toasted, and keep
the base saucy before the oven does its tightening. This is food made for
repetition: it holds warm without collapsing, reheats clean, and tastes even
better the next day. Serve it as an Augustin lunch plate with quick-braised mustard
greens finished with vinegar—sharp enough to cut through beans and pork
fat—then let the leftovers do what they do best tomorrow.

Cooked with
If you want this to taste like the version I’m writing about, start here. This is the backbone.
View Chaurice Sausage
Chaurice Sausage

Recipe

Gratin

  • 4 cups

    navy beans

  • 1 lb.

    Chaurice sausage , sliced in 1/2" thick rounds
  • olive oil

  • 1

    large yellow onion , diced

  • 2

    celery stalks , diced

  • 4

    garlic cloves , minced

  • 2 Tbsp.

    tomato paste

  • 1 tsp.

    Kosher salt

  • ½ tsp.

    freshly ground black pepper

  • 2 Tbsp.

    fresh thyme

  • 1 tsp.

    smoked paprika

  • 6 cups

    chicken stock

  • 1 Tbsp.

    apple cider vinegar
Topping

  • 1 cup

    breadcrumbs

  • 2 Tbsp.

    butter , melted

  • 2 Tbsp.

    fresh thyme
    Step 1

  • In a large bowl, cover the navy beans in water and allow them to soak overnight.

    • Step 2

  • Drain the navy beans and then set aside.

    • Step 3

  • Heat a Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the Chaurice sausage. Stirring frequently allow the fat to render off the Chaurice sausage.

    • Step 4

  • Remove the Chaurice sauage from the Dutch oven when they begin to brown but not seared.

    • Step 5

  • Add or remove the fat renderings of the Chaurice sausage to make 3 Tbsp. Add olive oil if more is needed.

    • Step 6

  • Bring the heat up the medium-high. Add the onion and celery to the Dutch oven, along with 1 tsp. of Kosher salt. Cook until the onion start to become translucent. Approximately 6 - 8 minutes.

    • Step 7

  • Add the garlic and cook for another 1 minute to allow the garlic to become fragrant.

    • Step 8

  • Stir in the tomato paste. Frequently stirring to allow it to become a rich dark red but not burned.

    • Step 9

  • Stir in the Kosher salt, black pepper, and fresh thyme and cook for 2 minutes.

    • Step 10

  • Add the soaked navy beans and chicken stock to the Dutch oven and bring to a boil.

    • Step 11

  • Bring the pot back down to a simmer. Simmer until the navy beans are cooked and started to break down, adding water as needed, ¼ cup at a time. Approximately, 3 hours.

    • Step 12

  • Return the Chaurice sausage back to the Dutch oven and allow to meld with the beans for a couple of minutes.. Salt to taste.

    • Step 13

  • Preheat an oven to 375°. Add the bean mixture to a buttered 13 x 9 baking dish and spread evenly.

    • Step 14

  • Combine the breadcrumbs, melted butter and fresh thyme in a small bowl. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixutre over the Navy bean and Chaurice sausage.

    • Step 15

  • Place in the oven and allow to bake until the breadcrumbs have been to brown. Approximately, 22 - 25 minutes.