Another Winter Recipe: Sausage Soup with Root Veggies

There are a few meals with which I have a strange, emotional attachment.  

In every case, its been something someone cooked for me which was the perfect meal at the perfect moment, and so they stick with me as favorites from that point on.  Off the top of my head, I can think of the veggie and avocado wrap my mother-in-law fixed me shortly after Annika was born, the meatloaf and mashed potatoes that my girlfriend Sarah had waiting for me after an exhausting weekend and long drive to Little Rock, and recently the butternut squash soup that the Holders brought us when we were having a rough week.  


This is not exactly the same soup that they brought us, but it has the same mix of sweet and savory flavors and that comforting, warm, stick-to-your-ribs feel to it.  And it has sausage, so that's a plus for my Man.


Sausage Soup with Root Veggies
Ingredients: 1 large butternut squash, 2 med. sweet potatoes, 1 onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 lb. sausage, 1/4 c. oil.


Peel and cube the squash and sweet potatoes, set aside.


Turn your crock pot on high. 


In a large skillet, heat the oil on medium heat until melted. Add in the onion and then garlic. 
Cook until soft, about 10 minutes. 


Add in the sausage and cook until brown, breaking it up with a spoon into small pieces. 


Put the sweet potatoes and squash into the crock pot. Pour the sausage mixture on top and mix well. Pour boiling water over the stew until it covers it halfway. 


Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 4 hours or until the squash is soft and just starting to fall apart. 


Use a potato masher or hand blender to blend the soup until desired thickness/chunkiness. Salt and pepper to taste.


Serve with homemade wheat rolls.