Last week you learned that I like pears. This week you are going to learn more things about me. Fun fact about me number 2: when I'm not taking pictures of my dinner, confusing housemates and food inspecting cats alike, I'm doing a PhD in the sort of university department that exists only to aggravate Andrew Bolt. I mention this because the other day I got into a long and very, very earnest conversation about affect and deferral and masochism and Masterchef, all expensive ways of saying watching food TV is masochistic because you can see the food but you can't taste it, and you're meant to eat food and stuff.

The other reason I mention the thing I do during the day to justify the meager scholarship I live on is because of lunch club. Last year some friends and I decided to start sharing lunch so we could save money and see another human being during the day. There were five of us and we'd take turns bringing in lunch and, seriously, it was pretty great while it lasted.  My friend Nicole is a silent kitchen ninja, unassuming and humble but capable of serious deliciousness.  This is her cassoulet. I believe it might even be from a Woman's Weekly cookbook, but I can't confirm.

So this is a recipe from university, and using my university skillz I can tell you that you will be affected by this cassoulet. It is an affective winter dinner. It doesn't look like much, but that charred bread is oily, lemony and garlicky, the casserole below a thick sweet jam spiked with thyme and wine. I made it after I'd had the kind of day where all you want is someone to give you a glass of wine and a warm dish of something to climb into bodily. It is easy and so delicious. Next time I'll peel and roughly chop a couple of parsnips into it. Make it so.

Cassoulet
Serves 4

For cassoulet:
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4-5 shallots, quartered
200g mushrooms, quartered
1 tsp fresh thyme
2 zucchini, roughly chopped
Bottle of passata
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup black eyed peas and 1/2 cup canellini beans, soaked overnight

For topping:
1/2 small loaf of bread, cut into rough cubes. I used a leftover sourdough roll
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Zest of a lemon
1/2 tsp fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Heat a slug of olive oil in your largest pan over high heat. Turn the carrots, mushrooms, shallots and garlic until just tender.  Stir in the wine, zucchini, stock, passata, drained beans and thyme.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the beans are tender and the cassoulet is dark, around 30-35 minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat a very generous slug of olive oil in a frypan over high heat. Add the garlic and cook for barely a minute until it's just tender, then add the thyme and bread. You may need to fry the bread in batches. You want it crispily fried, even a little blackened. Tip the cooked cassoulet into a baking dish and top with the bread, then bake for 10-15 minutes until bubbling and good. Eat immediately, or do as I did and just climb in and wait until winter goes away.