Sausage, Squash & Root Vegetable Stew

So, it’s been a week, and no new recipe :(

But will make up for it in the coming days, hope that’ll be OK. And last night we had something that I first made last year – it’s from another of those Dairy cookbooks, called “Hearty & Healthy.” More comfort food, with a lovely sweet taste. You don’t need to serve it with anything except some nice crusty bread to mop up the juices.

The Recipe: Sausage, Squash & Root Vegetable Stew
(Adapted from the Hearty & Healthy Dairy Cookbook)

• 1 large onion, peeled & chopped
• 2 sticks celery, trimmed & sliced [not a cooked celery fan, so left this out]
• 1 large parsnip, peeled & cut into small chunks
• 1 large carrot, peeled & cut into small chunks
• Half a small butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, & cut into small chunks
• 20 fl. oz. stock [they say beef, but I used chicken; low sodium is best (see below)]
• 1 pack pork sausages, cut into pieces [I use Italian sweet sausages]
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes [they say with garlic; again no salt is best]
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs [didn’t have mixed herbs so used qtr tsp rosemary, qtr tsp thyme, half tsp tarragon]

Serves 4; suitable for freezing

1) Heat olive oil in large saucepan and fry onion for a couple of minutes till softened.

2) Add celery, parsnip, carrot, and squash to saucepan and pour in stock. Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer for 10 mins.

3) Meanwhile, fry the sausage pieces in frying pan until golden, then remove from pan and drain on paper towels. [They said to fry for just 3 or 4 mins, but I cooked it for the whole time the veggies were simmering, so that more fat would come out.]

4) Add the sausages to the vegetables and stir in the chopped tomatoes and herbs. Bring back to the boil and simmer for about 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until tender, cooked through, and thickened. [They said to simmer uncovered, but didn’t want it to get too dry, so did 10 mins covered, and 10 mins uncovered.]

5) Serve immediately while hot.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

I actually used regular stock, not reduced sodium, but even though the tomatoes were salt-free, it almost tasted a bit too salty (presumably there’s some in the sausages). So, it’s another recipe where you need to watch the salt. But I have a bee in my bonnet re sodium at the moment; it was probably fine.

Pix

The finished product.