Wild Rice with Sausage and Squash

When we were in Visalia last month, Mom pulled out a recipe she had saved from the newspaper because it looked interesting. She wasn't planning to make it soon, so said we could borrow it for awhile. A few days ago we tried it out, with great success, along with some tasty pork chops. The recipe was for a wild rice dish with sausage and butternut squash. It had a great earthy flavor and the squash and sausage worked well with the rice. It was unique enough that I wouldn't want to have rice that way all the time, but really nice as an occasional dish.

Wild Rice Stovetop Dressing

1 t olive oil

1 link sweet Italian turkey sausage, casing removed

1/2 C chopped celery

1/2 C chopped yellow onion

3 cloves garlic, mashed

1 C butternut squash cubes

1/2 t dried thyme, or 1 t fresh thyme

1/2 t dried rubbed sage, or 1 t fresh sage

1 t dried rosemary, or 2 t fresh rosemary

1 1/4 C wild rice blend (usually wild rice and basmati mixed)

3/4 C chicken or turkey broth

3/4 C water

1/4 C dried cranberries

1/4 C chopped toasted pecans

salt and pepper

Cook the sausage in the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat, until meat is golden, about 4 minutes. Add in the celery and onion and cook until softened, about 3 more minutes. Add the garlic, squash, herbs, and rice and saute for 1 minute. Add the broth and water, and raise temperature to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir the rice once, and then cover and reduce the temperature to low and allow to simmer gently, covered tightly, for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, toss in the dried cranberries (quickly covering again) and let sit covered tightly for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, stir, taste for seasoning, add toasted pecans, and serve.