Recreating French White Bean Cassoulet at Home

{originally published in 2013 and updated in 2025}

We were in Paris in 2013 and this is the epitome of comfort food. Here’s what we had in Paris – white beans, duck, pork and a delicious broth:

The Three Bite Rule - Paris Dinner Like a Local

Sometimes the best tasting dishes are not the most photogenic, but comfort comes to this dish from sauce with white beans, pork, and chicken thighs. Baguette would be good but the kiddos like to “make” (and eat) crescents so here we are.

Cassoulet at Home
Ingredients: (for 4 servings)

3-4 chicken thighs
2 sausages
2, 8 oz cans white beans
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup white wine
1 tsp thyme
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Directions:
Heat a large heavy pan to medium heat. Season the thighs with salt, pepper, and thyme. Sear them until golden and mostly cooked (about 4 minutes each side – they’ll finish in the oven). Remove from the heat. Slice the sausages.

In the same pan, deglaze with the wine and bring to a boil for about 2 minutes scraping the bottom bits off. Add in the tomato paste cooking for a few minutes. Next, pour in the broth bringing to a boil.

Pour off the excess liquid for the beans. Pour them in and add the chicken and sausage back in.
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.

Bake for 20 minutes checking that the chicken is cooked through. My sausages were fully cooked so they were warming in the sauce.
Serve with bread to dip. Enjoy!

I loved this! There’s so much more flavor than the 40-minute(ish) cooktime.

Breakfast Calzone

{originally published in 2016 and updated in 2025}

This breakfast calzone is easier than it first appears and comes together quickly. Originally I saw a friend from college post a brunch they hosted and this appealed to me. The puff pastry cooks faster than pizza dough for a regular calzone and gives croissant vibes…speaking of, crescent dough would work well too!

Breakfast Calzone
Ingredients: (serves 3-4 as an entree, or 5-6 as part of a brunch spread)
1 sheet puff pastry
4 eggs
4 sausage links (mine were smaller chicken sausage and I used ~6)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Thaw the puff pastry to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Pan fry the sausage until cooked through over medium-low heat. Let cool on paper towels for any excess drippings.
Whisk together the eggs and cook in the same pan, over medium-low heat. Gently scrambled the eggs with salt and pepper.
Roll out the puff pastry maintaining the square shape and transfer onto a baking mat or parchment – don’t fill it and then try to move it (ask me how I know). Slice the outsides in ~1/2 inch strips a third of the way to the center.
Add the eggs, sausage, cheese to the middle third of the dough all the way to the ends.

Alternate tucking the strips across one another starting on one end and crossing one, then the other side, alternating until 3/4 of the way to the end. Then start at the other end in reverse direction to close it up.

Bake 30 minutes, until crisp and golden brown.

Slice & enjoy!

This was so great. Puff pastry has that buttery crispness that is so perfect for breakfast. I liked the simple and classic flavors though there are 1000 ways to tweak this. I was wishing I sprinkled everything bagel seasoning – next time!

Sesame Noodle Bowls

These sesame noodle bowls get all the toppings to take it from a side of noodles to a balanced and customizable meal. We have peanut sesame noodles with dumplings or edamame but these bowls were a slight variation with a few choices of toppings or on the side.

We regularly have pasta so variety keeps us on own toes. If just one kid is home I try to think of what they’d be more into than the other. The little guy likes long noodles more than little sister.

Sesame Peanut Noodles
Ingredients: (for 4-5 servings)

1 pound linguine
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sriracha
1 1/2 cup pulled pork
1 cup edamame
2 green onions
1 avocado
(optional) pickled onions, radish, sesame noodles, hot honey, fish sauce

Directions:
Boil salted water for the pasta and cook until al dente.
Whisk, or shake together in a jar, the soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, and sriracha.
Pan sear the pulled pork until warmed through and crispy.
Cook and shell the edamame, and chop the green onions.

Sesame Noodle Bowls - The Three Bite Rule

When the pasta is cooked, drain and toss it in the sauce to cook for another minute or two.
Top with pork, edamame, avocado, and any toppings.

Sesame Noodle Bowls - The Three Bite Rule

Enjoy!

I like the salty and sesame flavors and all the textures. The edamame pop and the avocado is creamy. I wished for pickled onions- we actually had onion but alas, no red wine vinegar.

If just one kid is home I try to think of what they’d be more into than the other. The little guy likes long noodles more than little sister though he’d rather the pulled pork be in bbq sauce.

Sausage & Pesto Lasagna

I make a lot of lasagnas with my volunteerism with Lasagna Love – a nonprofit matching a lasagna chef volunteer with those who need a meal in the community. I make them a traditional one but went wild for my family!

The Three Bite Rule - Sausage & Pesto Lasagna

Sausage & Pesto Lasagna
Ingredients (for 9×9, serves ~6, or double for 9×12 pan)

~8 lasagna noodles
3 Sweet Italian sausage links, casing removed
1 teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning
1/4 cup alfredo sauce + 2 tablespoons
1/4 cup pesto sauce
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
~8 oz shredded mozzarella
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoon Parmesan

Directions:
Boil water and cook the lasagna noodles just until halfway cooked, about 6 minutes.
Pan fry the sausage breaking up big chunks and cooking through. Drain the oil and sprinkle in the dried Italian Seasoning.
Mix together the ricotta, egg, and oregano.
Spray the pan with non-stick spray then spoon in the 1/4 cup alfredo sauce (save the additional 2 tablespoons of alfredo).
Lay noodles down (9×9 pan needs 2 lasagna noodles trimmed with the remnants to make 3 across)
Top with sausage, then another noodle layer.
Spoon the ricotta mixture on next. Sprinkle with half the parmesan cheese and half the mozzarella.

The Three Bite Rule - Sausage & Pesto Lasagna

Add another noodle layer.
Mix together remaining alfredo sauce and pesto sauce. Spread onto the noodles.

The Three Bite Rule - Sausage & Pesto Lasagna

Top with remaining shredded mozzarella.
Cover and bake 30-40 minutes at 375 degrees, uncover for the last 5 minutes to melt all the cheese.
Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

The Three Bite Rule - Sausage & Pesto Lasagna

I was into this! I only made a 9×9 just to not have leftovers forever, but this gave us dinner plus a few more lunch portions. We eat pesto regularly in our quest for the kiddos not to be obsessively attached to pasta looking one way. One kid (not-so-secretly) wished it was noodles + pesto but then ate it all. The other little one ate a bit but was a bit too silly and it wasn’t the biggest meal of the day.

The alfredo is great to mix in since there are big flavors here so the pesto getting a little bit mellowed is nice. I’ll freeze the rest of the alfredo.

After the fact, I was thinking a buttered panko topping would have been fun. This idea would work well as lasagna roll ups and or as stuffed shells. Maybe next time!

The Three Bite Rule - Sausage & Pesto Lasagna

Sausage and Butternut Squash Fall Pasta

This was perfectly fall flavored! I loved the lightness of it – it has a light broth in place as a sauce but more sauce might be a hit too. The pasta drinks some up so it was juicy but not saucy. I used thick elbow pasta, roasted butternut squash, sausage, sage, and smoked gouda.

The Three Bite Rule - Sausage & Squash Fall Pasta

Sausage & Butternut Squash Fall Pasta
Ingredients: (serves 5-6)

1 pound pasta (big shells, rigatoni, penne, or other short pasta)
3 links sweet Italian sausage
1/2 butternut squash, diced
2 cups chicken or veggie broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste (or 1 cup crushed tomatoes & 1/2 cup half and half for more sauce)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
4 oz smoked gouda, grated or chopped
~4 sage leaves

Directions:
Air-fry or roast the butternut squash at 400-degrees for ~20 minutes.
Boil salted water for the pasta.
Remove the sausage from the casing and pan fry it in chunks until cooked through. Drain and discard excess oil, and move cooked sausage onto paper towels.
Cook the pasta to al dente.
Add broth, tomato, butter, and pepper into the sausage pan to deglaze and bring to a boil for a few minutes.
For less sauce: Let it lightly boil to reduce it for ~5 minutes.
For more sauce: reduce temperature and add in the crushed tomatoes and half and half.
Add in the pasta, sausage, and cheese and toss well to coat. Then add in the squash, and sage and very gently mix.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Sausage & Squash Fall Pasta

I was into it! I loved the gouda melting alongside the sausage and sweet squash and just a tiny bit of sage was nice for fall and not too heavy since we’re still having feels-like-summer moments!

We have sage growing like crazy but for me, a little goes a long way so I went light on that. Spinach would be great in there too. The butternut squash could swap for zucchini or summer squash instead if those are on hand.