Comfort Foods

To me, food is love. I love my family enough to cook good food (except for tonight, when we're getting good pizza) and hopefully they'll love to eat my cooking! When Jason and I were first married, I was on a mission to impress him with my cooking. I went to my local library and checked out every Rachael Ray book I could get my hands on. I'm busy- I don't have time for real cooking- only Rachael Ray! I checked out a bunch of books, copied a TON of recipes, and only found a few that we all really liked. Thankfully, we found this one: Quick Cassoulet Stuffed Bread Melts. Jason loves Italian Sausage, so I was desperately seeking recipes that made it taste good to me, and I definitely love this dish. For us, it's a big bunch of goodness that you put in bread and cover with cheese- how can you go wrong?



(The pictures aren't the most flattering... trust me- It's good.)

Quick Cassoulet Stuffed Bread Melts

• 1 loaf of bread- not sliced bread, but Italian or a baguette. We always use Italian.
• 1/2 lb of sausage (I buy the uncased Mild Sausage.. much easier and less messy.)
• 2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 t of dried thyme
• 1 can on cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup of white wine or chicken stock
• cheese- we use swiss, but you could use Gruyere, gouda, fontina, or whatever strikes your fancy

1. Preheat the oven to 200 F.

2. Crisp the bread in the oven, remove and cut into pieces, then cutting out the center of the bread to make a boat. You can do it length wise, or just chunk it like I did (check out the pictures.)

3. Add the EVOO to a skillet over medium high heat and brown the sausage. If you are using cased sausage, uncase them and break the sausage into small bits. Kind of like ground beef.

4. Add the carrots, onions, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme- cook for about 5 minutes or until onions are translucent.

5. Add the beans and stir to combine.

6. Season with salt and pepper- I always add more thyme as well.

7. Deglaze the pan with the stock or wine- scrape all the good sausage bits off the bottom.

8. Reduce heat and let it simmer over low heat. Rachael suggests just letting it simmer for a mere 2-3 minutes. I'm a busy woman, Rachael, and I've got things to take care of, so I'm gonna let this simmer for anywhere from 5-25 minutes. That's right.

9. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more wine or stock.. I like it a little juicy..it makes it better for heating up the next day.

10. Turn your oven to broiler. Take your bread boats on a cookie sheet (or broiler sheet) and fill them with the cassoulet. Cover the deliciousness with your choice of cheese, and put the sheet in the broiler. Let the cheese melt under the broiler and enjoy. Depending on how crisp your bread is, you may need a knife and a fork.

I will confess that every dinner I make must last for two days. We're too busy and have way too many children to be cooking a fresh meal every night. So, I double this recipe and double my pleasure. Though there are a lot of steps, it really is quite simple, and after you make it the first time, it gets easier every single time. Enjoy!