The Evolving Epicurean: Savory Fall Stew

The return of Sunday dinner! I had to make something autumnal and filling for handing out candy to the kiddos. This is seriously the perfect fall stew...for me at least. My friend and fellow foodie, Eve-Maridy, made this recipe for us for the first time for our annual Fall Fest this past October. After a very rainy day out at the Pumpkin Patch, it really hit the spot. Lots of fall vegetables make up the bulk of this dish, but the hot Italian sausage gives it an extra kick you don't see in a lot of stews. Surprisingly, it's a Martha Stewart dish. I'm not much of a fan of hers, but she makes some good stuff.

The challenge with this dish is in the preparation. Pearl onions are a pain to peel, so I recommend taking a garbage bowl (or, in our case, a compost bowl), a knife, and your onions, and plopping yourself in front of the TV for a bit. By the way, I'm Not There, the Bob Dylan documentary, is pretty good...at least from the 15 minutes I saw of it. Fennel, carrots, and parsnips are all pretty easy to prep, but the butternut squash is still a thorn in my side. I even looked up some techniques on peeling it, and you need a special peeler. Who has a serrated peeler on hand?? It was even more fun after the part that I peeled started to sweat, so it became slippery. But, armed with my $.99 knife from Fubonn, my regular peeler, and a lot of patience, I managed to peel the sucker. The results...