Vegan Cassoulet (yes, you read that correctly)

Prep time: 3 cocktails

1 pound flagoulet, navy, or other small to medium white beans

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2-3 carrots, finely chopped

2-3 ribs celery, finely chopped

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, pulsed in food processor into 1/8 inch bits (about 8-10 pulses)

12-15 cloves garlic, minced

1 oz dried mushrooms, ground into a slightly coarse/chunky powder

5 cups homemade veggie broth

1.5 cups red wine

3 TBSP soy sauce (fish sauce is also great)

1.5 tsp liquid smoke

6 Bay leaves

4-6 sprigs fresh thyme

2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 whole cloves

Salt and pepper to taste (usually about 2.5 tsp tsp salt)

¼ cup Italian parsley, minced

Breadcrumbs

Soak beans overnight. Rinse well and drain.

In a large, oven-safe dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat and add onions, carrot, and celery. Saute until starts to turn translucent to a little golden, about 12 minutes. Add fresh mushroom bits and garlic. Saute until liquid is mostly cooked off and bits are sticking to pan (but not burned), about 15 minutes, while scraping the stuck-on bits occasionally with a metal or wooden spatula. Add dried mushroom powder and cook another 6 or so minutes, while also completely scraping the browning bits on the bottom of the pan every 30 seconds or so using your spatula. Let the mixture cook and brown to the bottom one last minute without scraping.

(Note that these browned--but not burned!--bits that you scrape off the bottom of the pan give the cassoulet the majority of the flavor. So, extend the process of scraping and stirring even longer, if it seems as though you can)

Deglaze (unstick the delicious browned bits at the bottom of the pan) mushroom mixture with wine, soy sauce, and liquid smoke. Bring to boil. Now add veggie stock, drained beans, bay leaves, thyme, cloves, rosemary and bring to a boil and cook until beans are soft and excess liquid has cooked off (adding water, if necessary).

Now, preheat oven to broil.

Fish out thyme sprigs, bay leaves, and rosemary.

Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in Italian parsley. Toss bread crumbs with a little olive oil and sprinkle top of cassoulet. Put it all in the oven and broil until bread crumbs brown (but don’t burn!).