Autumn Stew/Roasted Squash Seeds

I believe I have mentioned before my love affair with winter squashes; I also shared a recipe that requires a partial can of pumpkin. In furtherance of my addiction to squash (and to give you something to do with the rest of that can of pumpkin), I concocted a stew that is, as far as I'm concerned, the season of autumn, condensed into one Crock Pot full of autumnal goodness. (I've done this before, with slightly different results; if you're curious, you can check out the post on my personal blog that I haven't updated in like a year now. This one is more creamy and less sweet, but they're definitely related.)

To start, gather every autumn-y food thing you can find, plus some other stuff:

The main things here are the butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apples, and sausage. But the other stuff's important, too.

First off, start your sausage a-browning. Then halve the squash and scoop out the guts, but DON'T THROW THEM AWAY! We will be doing magic with them in a minute here. Put 'em in a colander and let 'em chill a minute.

Peel it, chop it up, do the same with the sweet potatoes, apples, carrots, and celery, and toss them all in a Crock Pot. Add in the rest of your can of pumpkin, a couple bouillon cubes, some heavy whipping cream, and a bit of sage and thyme. Add your browned sausage and throw in some salt and pepper while you're at it.

That's the stuff.

Now let your Crock Pot get cooking, while you turn your attention to those squash guts. Dump them out onto a clean surface (I used a cutting board) and start picking up chunks and picking the seeds out of the orange goo. Your hands will get sticky. It's okay. They'll wash.

Put the seeds back in the colander, and you can do whatever you want with the orange goo; we're done with it here. Once you've got the seeds mostly goo-free, rinse them well to get the last of it off and pat them dry with paper towels. This is important. They need to be really dry, or they won't roast properly. It's a good idea to actually leave them spread on paper towels to dry for a bit to make sure they're good and dry before you do anything else.

Once they're dry, put them in a small bowl and toss with olive oil and your favorite seasonings. I gave mine the classic Chex Mix treatment: seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder (I didn't have any Worcestershire sauce).

Then spread them on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes or until they're good and crispy. Let 'em cool a bit, then chow down on your tasty appetizer!

And in a few hours, the main course:

Autumn Stew

Prep/Cook time: 3.5 hours minimum

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

(US Customary)

• 1/2 lb. ground sausage
• 1 medium butternut squash
• 3 small sweet potatoes
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 medium apples
• 1/2 can pumpkin (or whatever's leftover after making pumpkin bread)
• 1/4 c. heavy cream
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste

Special Equipment: Slow Cooker

Instructions:

Brown sausage. Peel and chop butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, and celery (don't peel the celery. You don't peel celery.) and add to slow cooker. Add 6-8 cups water, pumpkin, cream, bouillon cubes, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add sausage. Cook on high 2-4 hours or on low 5-7 hours or until vegetables are done.

Roasted Squash Seeds

Prep/Cook time: 45 minutes

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

• Seeds from one winter squash (you can also use pumpkin seeds)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder

Instructions:

Extract seeds from squash guts and rinse. Pat dry with paper towels and allow to thoroughly dry. In a small mixing bowl, toss with olive oil and seasoning. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes or until crisp.