Warm Belly, Happy Heart

I have been longing for some stew of some sort!  Some hearty, heathly, oh, I feel good down to the bone, stew. 
Well, here you have it!  It was totally satisfying, warmed my gullet, and, really, I could have eaten it until I was sick!  I think Hubby found the recipe in an edition of Cuisine at Home.  We didn't have any green beans so we used fresh spinach, and it was awesome.  Also, we used turkey sausage instead of italian, and we didn't do the roasted squash seeds.

South American Butternut Squash Stew

4 lbs butternut squash (7-8 cups diced)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 lb link Italian sausage or 1 lb chorizo sausage, casing removed

4 cups sliced onions

6 garlic cloves, sliced
14 1/2 ounces diced tomatoes with juice (1 14.50 oz can)

1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 lb green beans, stems removed and halved

1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed, or sm can corn

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

kosher salt & fresh black pepper, to taste

GARNISH

crumbled feta cheese or crumbled Cotija cheese

Roasted squash seeds

Peel squash using a potato peeler.  Cut squash in half; remove seeds and reserve to roast.  Dice squash flesh into 1-inch pieces; set aside.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add sausage; cook breaking up chunks with a wooden spoon, until sausage is brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Stir in squash, tomatoes, broth, jalapeo, oregano, and smoked paprika.

Partially cover pot; reduce heat to medium low.  Cook stew, stirring occasionally, until squash is almost tender, about 20 minutes.  Add beans and corn.  Partially cover pot, cook 10 minutes longer.  Stir in cilantro.  Season stew with salt & pepper. (Serve hot sauce on the side). 

TO ROAST SQUASH SEEDS: Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Rinse reserved seeds to remove any fibrous strands.
Dry seeds with paper towels.  Toss seeds with1 T extra-virgin olive oil; season with salt and pepper.  Roast seeds on prepared baking sheet for 15 minutes.

If you try this, please let me know what you think!