Eat*Drink*Cleveland: apples. soup

Harvest Stew

After running around all weekend and not being home for days, I was at home Sunday recuperating from a fun packed long weekend. All the fabulous food from Thanksgiving and wedding events had me itching to whip up something at home. Since the weather changed from summer-like to winter in about a minute, I thought a hearty stew would be perfect.

I decided to make one of my favorites, a unusual stew containing pork, butternut squash and root vegetables. It was a great way to use up my last Fresh Fork CSA goodies. It's super simple and can easily be changed up to use what you have in your fridge.

Harvest Stew

Ingredients:
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 lbs boneless pork, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 large butternut squash, cubed
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
2 white potatoes, cubed
2 stalks celery, sliced
4 carrots, sliced into 2 inch chunks
2 sweet apples, unpeeled and cubed
1 jalepeno pepper, diced
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
8 c. low sodium chicken stock
8 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cocktail peanuts
handful of kale, spinach or other greens, chopped

Seasonings:

1/4 t rosemary, crushed
1/2 t sage
1 bay leaf
1/4 t ground ginger
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t celery seeds
1 t aleppo pepper
S+P

Directions:
Combine seasonings in small bowl and stir well. Toss with cubed pork. Heat olive oil in heavy pot or dutch oven. Add onions and pork cubes and saute until slightly browned. Deglaze pot with a little of the chicken stock and stir in veggies, beans, apples and garlic. Cook over medium low heat until meat is tender, approximately 30-40 minutes. Garnish with chopped peanuts.

The squash cooks down and thickens the broth. Instead of the squash, you can add a small can of pumpkin puree.

While the spices seem like an unlikely match, they combine to create a slightly sweet broth with a lot of flavor. This recipe is really forgiving and you can be flexible with what you add. Switch beans or leave them out all together. If I have green onions, I normally throw some of those in too. Parsnips are another good addition. I like to add farro or quinoa too.

I served this with beer bread but corn bread or a crusty Italian loaf goes well with it too. It tastes even better the next day. Enjoy!

** Updated May 2017**