A Solar Cooking Favorite

This lamb cassoulet was the first dish to appear on my blog. It's still one of my favorites. I adapted the recipe from Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass.

Sun Oven Lamb Shanks with White Beans

1/2 lb. white beans (cannellini, great northern or mayocoba)
1 tbs. olive oil
2 leeks, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 bay leaves
3 1/2 cups water
2 lamb shanks
1 tbs fresh chopped rosemary
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Soak beans overnight. Heat oil in a large dutch oven, add leeks and carrots, saute for about five minutes. Add beans, water, bay leaves and lamb shanks. Cover and place in Sun Oven and cook for at least four hours. To serve remove meat from bones. Drain beans reserving broth for future use. Return beans to pot and season with rosemary, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Be sure to save the broth. It's the best part of the recipe and can be used to make outstanding soups.

Solar Oven Pasta e Fagioli with Wine

Mayocoba beans are my new favorite. I had never heard of them, but they are a lot cheaper then the cannellini or cranberry beans I usually use. I decided to give them a try and was not disappointed. After soaking 1/2 lb. overnight I put them in the solar oven early this morning. By the time I got around to chopping the veggies for the soup's base the beans were cooked. If I had started the base at the same time as the beans the soup would have been ready by lunchtime but who wants to chop onions before breakfast? Once the base was done I combined everything in one pot, including the liquid the beans cooked in, and brought it to a slow boil to cook the pasta. All it needed was a touch of balsamic vinegar, a dusting of parmesan cheese, some chopped rosemary and a glass of wine.