Rainy Days on The Coast: Squash Stew with Sausage and Orzo

“Sometimes the wind along the Pacific shore blows so hard it steals your breath before you can inhale it.”

Somehow we’ve arrived to the middle of March, it’s been a bit of a blur. I’ve been taking some needed time to rest in the warmth of home only venturing into the cold to walk amongst the trees. Something about the Holidays leaves me socially burnt out each year and these past couple of months have been spent in quiet meditation, exercising, eating, sleeping: the bare necessities and my mind is quiet once more, (almost) ready to peek my head out and rejoin the world.

Today I want to share a simple stew that I make when the activities of the day have left little time to prepare a meal (or I’m feeling a little lazy, lets be honest). Sunday’s are kept for a “special” dinner but on this grey and rainy Saturday, a warm bowl of stew with a good chunk of garlic toast will do.

This stew is a frugal one with only a few ingredients yet it’s surprisingly flavourful. It’s easy and quick to make too.

You Will Need:

3 Sausages uncased (we just need the ground meat) You can use any type of sausage (including vegan) but a mild Italian Sausage with fennel is what I used.
1 yellow onion diced
4 garlic cloves finely minced
4 cups of butternut squash cubed to bite sized pieces
4 cups of broth (you can used veg or chicken, I’m using my homemade bone broth)
2 Teaspoons of sage (fresh or powdered)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
1/2 a cup of uncooked Orzo

In a large pot, brown the ground sausage. Once browned, transfer the sausage to a bowl and set it aside, leaving the grease in the pot. Sautee the onions in the sausage grease for about 4-5 minutes until they become translucent. You may need to add an extra drizzle of oil or butter if you feel the sausage and onions sticking.

Add the garlic and 1 tsp of the sage to the onions and sautee for another minute.

Add the broth followed by the cubed butternut squash, cover and bring to a boil then turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the ground sausage back into the pot and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes more until the squash is soft. This is also build the flavour. Taste and add Salt and pepper if you feel the need.

Cook the orzo pasta in a separate small pot until it is al-dente. Strain and add a little butter so it doesn’t stick.

Serve the stew with a scoop of orzo pasta. I had some garlic toast in the fridge so I toasted it in the oven to scoop up the warm yummy stew with.