Serves 10
■ 1 onion
■ 4 shallots
■ 2 carrots
■ 3 sticks celery
■ 3 tbsp goose fat
■ 500g (18oz) smoked streaky bacon
■ 10 Toulouse sausages
■ 12 cloves garlic
■ Salt and pepper
■ 2 glasses red wine
■ 2 tins good Italian chopped tomatoes
■ Small bunches sage, thyme and rosemary tied with bacon rind
■ 1kg (21⁄4lb) white cannellini beans
■ 4 handfuls dry white breadcrumbs

Use a heavy Le Creuset-type dish for this. Chop the onion, shallots, carrots and celery and fry them in goose fat until soft. De-rind the bacon (reserve the rind) and cut it into 10 chunks. Brown them. Remove all the cooked ingredients and brown the sausages.
Place everything back in, throw in the unpeeled garlic cloves and season. Pour in the wine; whizz the tomatoes and add them. Wrap the bacon rind around the herbs and tie them with string. Drop the bundles into the stew and simmer it for three hours. Half an hour before serving, drain and wash the beans and add them. Cook for five minutes more, sprinkle the breadcrumbs over and put in the oven for 25 minutes at 230°C/450°F/Gas Mark 8. Serve with red wine.