Food Network Friday: Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup

This week’s Food Network Friday was chosen by Anna Karenina of On Cardamom and Cast Iron. The recipe is originally from Emeril and you can see it here. My version didn’t require many changes. This soup is hearty and very autumnal. Interestingly, I’m not a big fan of squash (but I keep trying), and I still enjoyed this soup. If I didn’t know it had squash in it, I never would have tasted it. But it did give it a wonderful creamy texture. The recipe below is for a half recipe.

Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup
Serves 4 generously

1 butternut squash about 1 1/2 pounds, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper
6 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 1/4 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup wild rice
6 ounces vegan sausages (like these) or store-bought, cut into 1/4-inch
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (next time use 2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (next time use 1 teaspoon)
1 cup corn kernels
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large roasting pan, toss the squash with 1 tablespoon oil, salt and pepper. Roast 45 minutes to 1 hour or until tender. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Puree the squash with 1 cup of broth until smooth. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat 1/2 tablespoon oil. Add 1/4 cup onion and the rice. Saute about 4 minutes, then add 2 cups of broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce to simmer for one hour. (See my note below on this.)

In a soup pot, heat the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the sausage, liquid smoke and paprika. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until browning. Add the remaining onions and corn. Season with salt and pepper. Cook about 3 minutes, then add 2 1/2 cups broth and squash mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer and partially cover. Simmer 20 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook another 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings, then stir in the parsley and serve.

Notes on this recipe:
1. The rice – no way did I need 2 cups of broth for 1/2 cup of rice. I’m not sure if it’s an error, or if Emeril uses magically absorbing rice. I ended up draining out the broth and using that to add to the soup. So you may need to play with the amount of broth actually needed for the soup, or cook the rice differently.

2. I didn’t have smoked sausage, so adding the liquid smoke and smoked paprika did the job nicely.

3. I omitted the cream from the original recipe. It was so rich and had an incredible texture, that I just didn’t feel it was needed.

4. The recipe needed a little something more and I’m not sure what. Maybe a little lemon juice? It seems like the top end was missing.

Would I make it again? Yes, I think I would. It would be a good soup to serve for a fancy autumn dinner party, or a first course for Thanksgiving.

Be sure to check out Anna Karenina’s take on this recipe here. Interestingly, we both dropped the cream. Mine is way chunkier and I’m not sure why. Thanks for such a great recipe choice.

If anyone else joined in with this week’s Food Network Friday, please post your link in the comments! We’d love to see what you made whether you followed this recipe or picked your own.

Next Food Network Friday will be November 13th. Any suggestions?

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