Cassoulita Guajillo with Anasazi Beans (vegan)
I stopped by Ludgate Farms market a couple of weeks ago and found Anasazi beans, one of my favorites and a hard to find heritage bean variety. (A good online source is Adobe Milling in Colorado.) My score at Ludgate’s called for an extra special dish, and this Cassoulita won the Google Cooking award for the day. In fact, these turned out to be the most delicious beans I have ever eaten.
Cassoulet is a term of French origin for a braised bean dish, usually with tomato sauce and meat. The name comes from cassole, the distinctive oval covered earthenware pot in which the beans are traditionally baked. So cassoulita is a Mexican and, in this case, vegetarian, twist on the original.
I found the recipe in several places, and wasn’t able to sleuth it’s origin. My version is vegan, and I’ve also made a couple of changes based on the contents of my pantry at the moment. So I’ve decided to post the modified recipe without attribution.
Cassoulita Guajillo
- 1. Soak Beans
- 1 lb. Anasazi beans
Pick over beans, wash, cover with spring water and soak overnight.
- 2. Cook Beans
- 1 carrot, chunked up
- 1 onion, halved and stuck with 4 whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 5 large cloves garlic
Drain and rinse the soaked beans. Put beans and ingredients into pressure cooker. Cover with about a half inch of water. Bring to pressure; reduce heat to low, and cook for 40 minutes.
- 3. Guajillo Braising Sauce
- 2 Tbs Canola oil
- 2 oz dried Guajillo Chiles, stemmed, seeded, torn into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 c almonds, blanched, chopped
- 4 c Pacific Vegetable Broth
- 1/2 tsp cumin seed
- 4 plum tomatoes, cored, seeded, quartered
- 1/2 Onion, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 Tbs firmly packed golden brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Heat oil in a large pot over hight heat. Add chiles and almonds. Saute until chiles darken and almonds are golden, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer chilies and almonds to bowl.
- Toast cumin seeds in heavy small skillet over medium-low heat until aromatic, about 1 minute. Crush cumin seeds in a small morter.
Add cumin, chili mixture, tomatoes, quartered onion, garlic, sugar and salt to stock. Simmer until all ingredients are very soft, about 45 minutes.- Working in batches, puree stock mixture in blender. Return to pot. Boil until reduced to 3 cups, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated, or can be frozen.)
- 4. Braise Beans
- 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 1 c celery, minced
- 1 c carrot, minced
- 1 c onion, minced
- 1 c fresh (or frozen) corn kernels (about 2 ears)
- 1/4 c parsley, minced
- 1/4 c cilantro, minced
- 1 c Tofutti Soy Sour Cream (garnish)
- 1 Avocado, peeled, seeded, cubed (garnish)
- 1/4 c fresh Cilantro sprigs (garnish)
Saute the chopped vegetables and parsley in oil over medium high to golden, stir in chili sauce, cook for another few minutes. Stir and cook at a lively bubble about 4 minutes, or until thick. Gently stir in beans, removing the big chunks of onion with the whole cloves. Add bean liquid if needed to moisten and simmer about 15 minutes to blend flavors. Taste for seasoning. (I added a pinch of chile powder at this point as the Guajillo’s are quite mild.)
- Pour into a large shallow baking dish. Bake 1 hour.
- Before serving, garnish the dish with sour cream, avocado and fresh chopped cilantro.