Butternut Squash, Rice and Sausage Casserole

Submitted by Chef Jean Louise

"A cold-weather hit from our CSA newsletter."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 5-6

ingredients

• 1 butternut squash
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage or 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
• 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1 lb mild sausage, crumbled or sliced (I prefer Aidell's brand chicken and apple sausage)
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 small sweet apple, diced (gala, pink lady, or golden delicious, for example)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup uncooked arborio rice or 1 cup other short-grain rice
• 1⁄4 cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• cooking spray
• 1⁄2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place squash on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until tender. After allowing squash to cool, cut it in half lengthwise, seed, quarter and peel it. Then cut it into 1/2-inch cubes and set aside.
3. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.
4. In a medium saucepan over low heat, bring broth, water, and sage to a simmer without allowing it to come to a boil.
5. In a large nonstick skillet or wok, heat 1 teaspoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat and brown the sausage; set aside.
6. In the same skillet, saute onion in remaining olive oil over medium-high heat until tender.
7. Add the apple and garlic, and saute for two minutes.
8. Add the rice, and saute for an additional minute.
9. Stir in the sausage, squash, broth mixture, wine, chopped thyme, salt, and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
10. Place the casserole mixture in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
11. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
12. Remove casserole from oven, stir mixture gently, and sprinkle with cheese.
13. Return to oven and bake for an additional five minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
14. Allow to cool for ten minutes before serving.

Reviews

[Katherine E F.]

This was delicious! Only slight mods in process: peeled and diced the squash, tossed with olive oil, broiled until tender, stirring once or twice. Used my large cast-iron skillet for browning sausage, sautéing onions and apples. Added everything else to the skillet and put it directly into the oven. (Saves on cleanup!).

 

[Chef MB]

Everyone in the house loved this--the vegetarian and the meat eater! Used a vegetarian sausage instead of real sausage, used veggie broth, and had to replace rice with barley (oops!), but it turned out great. Next time, would add a larger/tarter apple, and possible stir more cheese into the casserole itself instead of just on the top. But even my pickiest eater, not a veggie fan, loved this. Thanks for sharing! Oh, and I loved roasting the squash this way--much easier to peel and clean!

 

[steynelaine3]

Thank you so much for this awesome recipe! Definitely going to use it a lot, since my family loved it. I read a couple of the reviews beforehand and made a couple of changes: I peeled and cubed the butternut. Then I roasted it at 180°C till just tender. I fried the onions and garlic in olive oil. I used beef bangers and took their casings off. Put it with the onions and garlic and browned it. Then I added two golden delicious apples and left it to fry for two minutes. After I added the rice and fried for 2 minutes again, I added the chicken stock, water, wine and oregano (did not have sage), salt and pepper. I boiled it for 5 minutes. Then only did I add the roasted butternut. Baked it at 200°C as per recipe for 30 minutes, stirred and topped with cheddar cheese (did not have parmesan).

 

[Hot Cooking Mama]

Wow!!!! Just made this for the 1st time and can already tell I am going to be making this all the time. Perfect combination of savory and sweet. Would not change a thing! thank you!!

 

[Dr. Jenny]

We really enjoyed this recipe! It was very tasty and felt like a nice Fall comfort dish. Modifications were: subbing "No Chicken Broth" (vegetarian) for the chicken broth, extra broth for the white wine since I was out, and I used a vegetarian sausage, which worked fine. Also, my apple was a little on the larger side, so I felt the amount of sweetness was perfect. I topped the finished dish with more Parmesan. Thanks so much!