Rustic Winter Squash and Italian Sausage Soup
Creamy Sausage, Squash, and Potato Soup is the coziest soup for a chilly Fall night. It has spicy Italian Sausage, winter squash roasted to perfection with herbs and spices, potatoes, and spinach – in a creamy broth that will keep you warm and toasty.
When you roast squash, it brings out a rich sweetness. The herbs and spices also add to the fall vibe!
Let’s talk about the ingredients for Rustic Squash and Sausage Soup
Italian Sausage – I love the spicy version! You can use the milder version if you like that better. I also try to buy the bulk Italian Sausage, as it saves time — you don’t need to remove the casings. You can substitute ground turkey if you prefer that and if you do, I would add some Italian seasoning to it when you’re cooking it.
Squash – You can use any winter-type squash for this soup! Use the one YOU like, or is available to you. Some examples of winter squash are butternut, hubbard, acorn, buttercup, and cabocha. There are so many varieties! What’s your favourite?
Sherry – I love the acidity and brightness that the sherry adds to the soup. Using sherry to deglaze the pot after cooking the sausage allows all those extra flavours to blend into the soup. Don’t want to use sherry? Add a couple of teaspoons of sherry vinegar instead.
Aromatics – For this soup, I’ve used diced onion, carrot, celery, and garlic — lots of garlic!
Herbs & spices – I roasted the squash cubes, coated with olive oil, salt & pepper, and dried herbs including thyme, rosemary, and sage. A bit of ground nutmeg adds a little bit of that fall harvest flavour as well.
Potatoes – Creamy Yukon gold potatoes are my choice here, peeled and cubed. Small baby potatoes could work as well — and you don’t need to peel them!
Spinach – Adds a touch of nutrition and green colour to the soup. It cooks so fast right at the end so it’s an easy addition with no extra effort.
Chicken stock – My favourite stock when making soup with sausage! You could use vegetable stock instead.
Heavy cream – I’m only using ½ cup of heavy cream in this entire recipe; it adds a bit of richness and helps soup become slightly thicker.
Crispy Sage Leaves – A really fun, tasty garnish to make for this soup is crispy sage leaves! It’s simply frying fresh sage leaves in some olive oil until they become crispy, and then crumbling them on the soup when you serve it. So fancy!
Rustic Squash & Italian Sausage Soup
Equipment
- Knife & cutting board
- Large soup pot
- Baking sheet
- parchment paper or alternative
Ingredients
- 454 g Italian Sausage hot 1 lb
- ½ large onion finely diced
- 3 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp thyme dried
- 1 tsp rosemary dried
- 1 tsp sage dried
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg grated
- 125 ml dry sherry 1/2 cup
- 1 kg squash peeled cut into cubes, about 2 lbs
- 15 ml olive oil 1 tablespoon
- 450 g Yukon gold potatoes peeled and diced, 1 lb
- 1.4 liters chicken stock 6 cups
- 125 ml heavy cream 1/2 cup
- 2 handfuls fresh baby spinach roughly chopped
- Kosher salt & black pepper to taste
Optional Garnish
- Fresh sage leaves
- 15 ml olive oil 1 tablespoon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Peel and cube the squash, removing any seeds. Add the squash cubes to a large bowl. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, dried herbs, and nutmeg. Add the seasoned squash pieces to the prepared baking sheet, making sure the squash is in a single layer.
- Roast squash for 20-30 minutes, stirring half-way through. The squash is done when you can just pierce it with a fork. Remove from oven and set aside.
- While the squash is cooking, add the Italian sausage, onion, carrot, and celery to a large soup pot over medium heat. Cook until the sausage is crumbled and cooked through, and the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook until garlic becomes fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the sherry and stir, scraping up any of the delicious fond (the browned bits) from the bottom of the pot.
- Add potatoes and chicken stock. Increase heat to high and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to medium low and cook, at a gentle bubbling simmer, for 8-10 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.
- Add the cooked squash, heavy cream, and chopped spinach, and stir until the cream has heated and the spinach has wilted, just a few minutes. Optionally, you can use a potato masher and mash some of the squash and potato in the pot, to create a more rustic soup.
- Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Optional Garnish
- To make the optional crispy sage leaf garnish, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a small skillet and fry the sage leaves until crispy. Let cool slightly and crumble over soup.
Notes
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