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Cassoulet Style Smoky Bacon Meatballs
Welcome to our third recipe from Lauren, aka Stutz Supper Club! These cassoulet-style smoky bacon meatballs are the ultimate comfort food - rich, hearty, and full of flavour. Juicy meatballs, smoky bacon, and a tomatoey bean sauce all come together in one delicious dish. It’s cosy, easy to make, and just the thing for a relaxed night in.
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Tomato Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
20 grams butter
1 brown onion, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 small carrot, peeled and finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 sprigs of fresh thyme, stalks discarded
400-gram tin finely chopped tomatoes or passata
1 cup chicken stock
390-gram tin cannellini beans, drained
2 teaspoons brown sugar
sea salt and cracked pepper
Meatballs
3 pieces of bread, crust removed
4 rashers streaky bacon, roughly chopped
½ red onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
350 grams pork mince
3 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs (parsley, sage, oregano)
sea salt and cracked pepper
2-3 tablespoons olive oil, for frying
Breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 slices bread, blitz to breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Method
1
Heat the olive oil and butter in a large heavy-based casserole dish. Add the onions, celery and carrot and gently sauté until softened. Add the garlic and fresh herbs and fry briefly for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock and gently simmer for 30 minutes, stirring regularly. Once thickened, add the cannellini beans, sugar and season with salt and pepper. Note - if the sauce begins to dry out, add a little water.
2
While the sauce is cooking, make the meatballs. Put the slices of bread in a food processor and blitz to a fine crumb then transfer to a large bowl. Add the roughly chopped bacon to the food processor and process until finely chopped. Put the bacon into the bowl along with the remaining ingredients, except the oil. Mix until well combined then roll into golf ball-sized balls.
3
Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Brown the meatballs in batches until golden brown.
4
For the breadcrumbs, take 2 slices of bread and blitz in the food processor. Sprinkle on top of the meatballs and sauce.
5
Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce, sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and parsley leaves, and bake uncovered for 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden and crispy. Serve and enjoy with your choice of sides - we had this on its own, but you could serve with crusty bread salad or even pasta.
