Cassoulet is a pain in the — to make. Several steps, timed apart, and I’m stuck in the kitchen for hours. But it’s one of my husband’s favorite meals. When I saw this crock pot version voted one of the top 100 best by Cooking Light magazine, I nabbed it. Of course, I found even more short cuts when I went to work, in italics or cross outs below, and spent less than one hour in the kitchen. And – he liked it just as much as the long version. Paired it with a 20111 Santa Ynez Firestone Syrah, tasty:

Makes 8 1-cup servings.

Ingredients

• 2 bacon slices (I used one package of cooked bacon, 11-13 slices.)
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained (Don’t drain, I could have used a little bit more “soup” consistency in this.)
• 2 (15-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 pound lean boneless pork loin roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes (Just didn’t sound appealing, or worth the calories, but go for it if it does to you!)
• 1/2 pound reduced-fat smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used 1 pound to make up for no pork loin)
• 8 teaspoons finely shredded fresh Parmesan cheese (optional)
• 8 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (My family is anti-parsley)

Directions

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp.

Remove Cut up bacon with kitchen scissors from pan; crumble. Add onion, thyme, rosemary, and garlic to drippings in pan; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in crumbled bacon, salt, pepper, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

2. Place half of beans in a large bowl; mash with a potato masher until chunky. Add remaining half of beans, pork, and sausage; stir well. Place half of bean mixture in a 3 1/2-quart electric slow cooker; top with half of tomato mixture. Repeat layers.  Put it all together and cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours. Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/smoked-sausage-cassoulet