Over the last year I’ve totally converted to the beauty of the butternut squash. I roast it, I use it in pasta, I love it. So here in pumpkin season, I wanted to capitalize on my new love of squash and make a dinner recipe that used the pumpkin I’m so fond of in desserts, in a savory way. The result is this cozy, hearty stew that uses a whole bunch of the root vegetables perfect in fall cooking. I could not stop eating it.
Pumpkin Stew
2 T butter
olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 1/2 C stew beef
flour
4 C pumpkin, roughly chopped
2 parsnips, roughly chopped
2 rutabagas, roughly chopped
4 medium potatoes, roughly chopped
3 C red wine
4 C beef broth
1 small can tomato paste
Melt the butter and oil together in a oven safe pot. I used my big cast iron pot for this and it is perfect. Toss in the onion and let sweat until soft. Chop the stew meat into bite sized chunks and then dredge in flour. Add to the pot and let brown. Add all the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for a few hours, or until the meat is tender. After a few minutes on the stove, I like to move this to the oven to finish. The all over heat keeps the bottom layer of stew from burning and you can avoid too much stirring that threatens to break up the vegetables. If you don’t have an oven safe pot, this can all be made on the stove top, but it’s perfection from the oven. You can also make this in a crock pot by browning the onions and meat on the stove and then adding all the ingredients to the pot. You’ll just want to make sure you can get enough of a boil going to burn off the alcohol in the wine.
When I was at the grocery store I just started grabbing winter root vegetables. This was actually the first time I’ve ever even tasted rutabaga, but it is my new favorite. It’s a little like if a radish and a potato had a baby. I ate it raw as I was chopping and it was yummy, and it is wonderful in the stew. I think I may have a few new rutabaga recipes in my future.
