3-5cupsbroth or stock of choiceI used 3 cups chicken broth for a thick thick soup. I suggest starting with 3 and thinning out when you puree if needed
½ cupcreamThis could be half and half, table cream or heavy cream. Milk would even work in a pinch! Use what ya got yo.
Sausage
1 poundgood fresh chorizo or italian sausage Venison, Moose, Elk, Beef, Pork
1 poundground meat
¼ teaspoonsalt
¼teaspoonpaprika
½ teaspooncumin
1teaspoon oregano
1teaspoonred chile flakesmild, not spicy ones
2 teaspoonsbalsamic vinegar
Instructions
Place the butternut squash, onion, garlic, and broth in the crockpot
Cook on low for 8-10 hours or 4-5 hours on high. (OR go totally crazy and cook it for 30-45 min on the stovetop in a pot. Just bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Cook until squash can be mashed with a fork against the side of a pot.)
After the soup is done cooking, puree in batches in a blender, or the super simple way, use an immersion blender! They’re my best friend for soups.
After you’ve pureed the soup add the cream and stir in your cooked sausage crumbles.
Taste adjust the salt and pepper seasoning, and you’re ready to serve!
Sausage Crumbles
Either take 1 pound of good fresh chorizo or italian sausage (Venison, Moose, Elk, Beef, Pork, etc) out of the casings, cook in a frying pan and stir into the crockpot after pureeing. Good sausage is what makes this soup shine so don’t choose some Jimmy Deans breakfast sausage. Please. Unless that’s your favourite sausage and you think it’d be the best thing ever in this soup…then who am I to judge…
OR
Make your own quick sausage from ground meat (Venison, Moose, Elk, Beef, Pork, Turkey etc.) This needs to be mixed up a minimum of one hour to 3 days before cooking (I did it after I threw the soup into the crockpot in the morning.)
Store in a container in the fridge until ready to cook.
Brown in frying pan until cooked, and stir into the crockpot after pureeing the soup.