Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
100 g duck fat, schmaltz or butter lonion, finely sliced into rings 1 celery stalk, finely sliced
150 g speck or streaky bacon, cubed 1 whole garlic bulb, peeled and roughly chopped
1-2 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon tomato paste (concentrated purée)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (hot or sweet, up to you)
¼ cup (60 ml) white wine
2 cups (500 ml) good-quality chicken stock or vegetable stock
3 small heads broccoli, florets separated, stalks peeled and chopped 400 g tinned butterbeans, drained and rinsed
Cheesy crumb
100 g fresh sourdough breadcrumbs or panko crumbs
50 g hard cheese, such as parmesan, pecorino or Manchego, finely grated
1 handful of chopped parsley
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika, plus extra for sprinkling (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
Heat half the olive oil and duck fat in a heavy-based saucepan or
Rameproof casserole dish over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and speck and sauté for 10-15 minutes, or until the onion is soft and the speck starts to turn golden and crinkly. There’ll be a point where everything feels like a sweaty mess, but stay the course – once the liquid evaporates and the fat starts to render out, you’re cooking with gas (even if you’re not cooking with gas).
Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, tomato paste and paprika, and give everything a good stir (and a good whiff … ooooh yeah). Splash in the wine to deglaze, then add the stock, broccoli stalks and beans. Cook over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, or until the liquid has come to the boil and reduced by one-third; feel free to crank up the heat a little to speed up the process.
Meanwhile, combine all the cheesy crumb topping ingredients in a mixing bowl with the remaining duck fat.
In another bowl, toss the broccoli florets in the remaining olive oil until well coated, then arrange the broccoli florets over the top of the cassoulet mixture, sticking them in so they’re standing up like little trees. Grind over some salt and black pepper, then scatter the cheesy breadcrumb topping over.
Bake towards the top of the oven for 35 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender and has browned a little more than is decent. Sprinkle with more paprika, if you’d like. Serve hot or warm.
