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Sausage and Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash and Italian sausage combine to make a filling and delicious soup!
Total Time 2 hours
Servings: 4 people
Course: Soup

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large butternut squash
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (I provided for 1 tablespoon for brushing squash - you may need less)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt (1 provided for 1/2 teaspoon to sprinkle on squash)
  • ground pepper
  • 2 teaspoons parsley (I provided 1 teaspoon to brush on squash)
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1 medium onion
  • 3 sweet Italian sausage
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
  • 1 bay leaf

Method
 

Preparing the Squash - this can be done in advance
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Quarter squash and remove seeds.
  3. Brush with 1 tablespoon olive oil (you may need less, depending on the size of your squash) and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and parsley.
  4. Roast squash in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until soft.
  5. When squash is cool enough to handle, remove peel and cut into 1 inch chunks.
Making the Soup
  1. Dice carrot, celery, and onion into 1/8" cubes.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large pot over medium heat.
  3. Saute carrot, celery, and onion for 5 minutes or until carrot and celery start to soften and onion is translucent.
  4. Remove sausages from their casing and put sausage meat into pot (I usually just squeeze the meat out of the casing right into the pot. Some stores sell loose sausage meat, and that works just fine too - you'll need a little less than a pound).
  5. Add 2 teaspoons minced garlic. Saute sausage meat, garlic, and veggies for 10 minutes or until sausage is browned. Stir often to avoid burning garlic and onions.
  6. Add cubed squash to pot.
  7. Add 4 cup vegetable stock, 1/2 teaspoon salt, ground pepper, 1/4 teaspoon sage, and bay leaf.
  8. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1/2 hour.
  9. Remove bay leaf. Using a potato masher, mash squash until soup is generally creamy, but retaining some texture. If you'd like it creamier, remove sausage and puree, either in a blender in small batches or with an immersion blender.
  10. Put soup and sausage (if you've used the blender) back in the pot.
  11. Add 1/4 teaspoon ground sage, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon parsley, and ground pepper. 
  12. Heat through and serve immediately or store in fridge/freezer until ready to heat and eat.