Overthinking a plate of lentils...

October 27, 2010 9:13 AM

Is there another name for a dish of lentils and sausages...?

I love the french dish "Cassoulet" - big harricot like beans in tomato sauce with hunks of fatty meat, sausages and duck legs. It came in huge tins that would feed an army. We had two.

BUT, from holidays I also remember a very similar dish that was lentils in a (possibly) beefy stock with the same fatty meat, sausages and duck legs.

I thought that the dish was called "Cassoulade", but there are only 2000 hits on google, and the second page of hits is my own site complaining that I can't find a familiar looking recipe for Cassoulade.

So... should I be calling this something else if I want to find a decent recipe?

posted by sodium lights the horizon to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

Frank and beans?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:15 AM on October 27, 2010

I've always heard this described as "cassoulet aux lentilles."
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:20 AM on October 27, 2010

I would look up "italian lentil and sausage" - a lentil and sausage dish is a traditional dish in Italy.

Like this. Or this. Or this. Or this.

No duck legs in those recipes, though.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:22 AM on October 27, 2010

Could this be it: petit salé aux lentilles - which I suppose means little salty with lentils? (although google suggests "bacon").

here described as Cassoulet's little brother: petit salé aux lentilles
posted by mary8nne at 9:34 AM on October 27, 2010

petit salé aux lentilles - does seem to be often made with Toulouse Sausages and or Confit of Duck
posted by mary8nne at 9:35 AM on October 27, 2010

Fabada uses beans instead of lentils, but it's very similar. There are some recipes that use duck instead of pork.
posted by clearlydemon at 9:52 AM on October 27, 2010

There are quite a few Spanish lentil, pork/bacon and chorizo recipes out there. Either for stews or soups. I'm failing to find a specific name for them though. Perhaps they're a variation of clearlydemon's Fabada.
posted by Ahab at 1:34 PM on October 27, 2010

This is not cassoulet but petit salé aux lentilles. You might associate them because they're both commonly sold in French supermarkets in huge tins. The standard recipe includes salted pork shoulder (thus the "salé" of the name) and lentils from Puy, which are not the mushy brown ones commonly sold as lentils in the anglophone world. They're more of a green-brown color and are more hearty. I believe I've seen them in Sainsbury's, albeit for a sort of ridiculous price considering how much they cost in France. Try a search on "petit salé aux lentilles" and recette to get authentic French recipes which presumably you'd be able to figure out if you've spent holidays in France. Here's one from Carrefour:

http://ideesetrecettes.carrefour.fr/content/petit-sale-aux-lentilles
posted by tractorfeed at 2:01 AM on October 28, 2010