Creamy Butternut Squash Orzo with Sausage

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

12 oz Italian sausage (casings removed (I used 3 sausage links)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 cup butternut squash puree

3 cloves garlic (minced)

10 oz orzo (uncooked)

2 tablespoons fresh sage (chopped)

2 tablespoons fresh thyme

salt and coarsely ground black pepper (to taste)

Directions

Cook sausage

Remove the sausage from casings, and slice the sausage. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat in a large, high-sided skillet.

Add sliced sausage and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes on one side, without turning, to get the sausage slices browned. Flip over to the other side and cook for 2 more minutes.

Make creamy butternut squash sauce

To the same skillet with sausage, add heavy cream, chicken stock, butternut squash puree, and minced garlic.

Bring the sauce to a boil on medium heat, reduce to low-medium heat, stir everything well. Cook for about 5 or more minutes. Make sure the garlic is cooked to your liking, and the sauce thickens. Cook longer if you would like a thicker sauce. Remove from heat.

While the sauce cooks for 5 or more minutes, cook the orzo as described below.

Cook orzo

Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook orzo according to package instructions. In my case, I cooked orzo al dente for 7 minutes in a pot of boiling water. Remove from heat. Drain but do not rinse.

Assembly

Add cooked orzo to the skillet with creamy butternut squash and sausage. Stir in half of the fresh sage and half of the fresh thyme.

Cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Season with salt and freshly ground coarse black pepper.

Tip: use your best judgment about the salt. If the sausage is salty enough, you might not need to add any extra salt.

When serving, top with the remaining half of the fresh sage and the remaining half of the fresh thyme.

Nutrition

• Calories: 822 kcal
• Total Fat: 54 g
• Saturated Fat: 24 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 26 g
• Cholesterol: 146 mg
• Sodium: 758 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 61 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4 g
• Total Sugars: 3 g
• Protein: 24 g