Tasty Butternut Squash With Sausage

Prep Time: 20 minutes    
Cook Time: 1 hour    
Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 8 people

This Butternut Squash Stew with Sausage is a hearty one-pot meal packed with farro and kale in a rich, savory broth. A few store-bought shortcuts make it easy to pull together on a busy weeknight, and it’s sure to be a hit with the whole family.

About Butternut Squash:

Butternut squash is a long, pear-shaped winter squash with tough, thick beige skin and seeds inside. The skin and seeds are usually removed and discarded rather than eaten. Its flesh is bright orange when raw and turns creamy with a mild sweetness when cooked. Butternut squash is often roasted, added in chunks to soups and stews, or cooked and blended into a smooth purée. For this recipe, choose a squash with unblemished skin that feels heavy for its size. To save time, you can also buy it already peeled and cut.

Ingredients:

• 450 grams Italian sausage, mild or spicy
• 20 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 250 grams of yellow onion, peeled and diced
• 200 grams carrots, peeled and diced
• 125 grams of celery, trimmed and diced
• 25 grams of  garlic, peeled and minced
• 160 grams farro
• 1 kilogram butternut squash, peel and seed, then cut into 1-inch cubes.
• 2 1/3 litre of chicken stock
• 2 stems fresh rosemary (or 1 tbsp dried rosemary)
• 10 grams kosher salt plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper plus more to taste
• 150 grams of kale, chopped, woody stems removed
• 30 ml balsamic vinegar

To Garnish:

• shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:

Form the Meatballs:

1. Cut the Italian sausage into 1-inch pieces with a knife or spatula.
2. Take a piece of sausage and roll it into a ball. Repeat with the remaining sausage until you’ve made all your meatballs.

Sear the Meatballs:

1. Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a 7 1/2-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
2. Brown the meatballs on both sides for 3 1/2 minutes per side or until they are dark brown in color.
3. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meatballs from the pot to a platter or dish. 

Sauté the Vegetables and Farro:

1. Add the carrots, celery, garlic, and onion to the pot and sauté these ingredients over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, frequently stirring. 
2. Add the farro to the pot, tossing the grains in with the other ingredients to coat them in the oil and toast the grains slightly. 
3. Next, add the chunks of butternut squash and meatballs to the pot with the rest of the ingredients.

Simmer the Butternut Squash Stew:

1. Pour the chicken stock into the pot with the rest of the ingredients, and add the rosemary, salt, and pepper. 
2. Bring the liquid in the pot to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low.
3. Cover the pot with its lid and simmer the butternut squash stew for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
4. After 20 minutes of cooking, add the kale and the balsamic vinegar to the pot. Carefully stir these two in because the pot will be quite full. 
5. Cover the pot and cook the stew for 10 more minutes on low heat. 

Serve and Garnish with Cheese:

• Ladle the butternut squash stew into bowls and serve the stew plain or garnish it with shredded parmesan or pecorino cheese. 

Tips & Notes:

Swaps and Substitutions:

• You can replace the Italian pork sausage with Italian turkey, beef, lamb, and or chicken sausage.
• You can also use your favorite flavored sausage instead of Italian or use frozen meatballs for even more convenience. 
• Omit the Italian sausage or replace it with your favorite plant-based sausage to turn this into a vegetarian butternut squash stew.
• Replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock as well. 
• You can replace the farro with bulgur, spelt berries, or wheat berries. 
• For a gluten-free stew, omit the farro in this recipe and replace it with brown rice, sorghum, or steel-cut oats. 
• You can replace the butternut squash with acorn, Hubbard squash, or pumpkin.

Tips and Techniques:

• When shopping for butternut squash for this recipe, select a squash with an unblemished peel and one with some weight. You can also cheat and purchase pre-peeled and cut butternut squash to cut down on prep time.  
• Buying your Italian sausage in a tray helps form the meatballs more easily. 
• Cutting the squash into 1-inch chunks ensures they cook at the same time. 

Storage Instructions:

• Store leftover butternut squash stew in an air-tight food storage container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

To reheat butternut squash stew:

• Portion out what you plan to eat and reheat it in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes on high.
• Stir the stew halfway through heating to ensure it heats evenly.
• Also, you can reheat butternut squash stew on the stovetop over medium heat until warmed through. 

Freezing Instructions:

• Freeze butternut squash stew in a freezer-safe container for 3 months after cooling it completely.
• Let the frozen stew thaw in the fridge, then reheat it as directed above.