I used half a yellow onion instead of the onions listed- next time I would use the whole onion. I used a bunch of heirloom carrots rather than the 3 called for. I cut all the pieces much smaller than called for so in each bite you could get multiple vegetable. I ended up adding about 4 cups more liquid to account for the extra quantity ingredients, and minced all the herb- and used more than called for- for ease of eating. It tasted like fall, everyone loved it! (I got a "tastes good" from my dad when all he ever says is "it's fine") and the infusion of flavor in the broth was great! Will add this to my recipe book.

I boil half of the cubed squash separately and puree then add to the soup as a thickener. If you want to substitute a vegetarian Italian sausage, I recommend sauteeing it in olive oil first then setting it aside to add to the soup just before serving - if you leave the veggie sausage in during cooking it will turn soft and lose any texture you got from frying.

This is one of my all time favorites. I didn't like the flavor of licorice as a kid so it surprises me that I enjoy the fennel in this. It is like eating candy that is good for you. Even the brussels sprouts are tolerable in this dish! Yummy. Will serve more than four.

I've been making this stew for years and it never disappoints. One additional ingredient that really deepens the earthy flavor is a bottle of good porter, which I add at the last 20 minutes of reducing the stew. This recipe scales really well, so making it for a large crowd is easy. Happy Fall!

Everyone really enjoyed this stew when i made it last night! I think using a good quality sausage is important. Mine turned out to be a little watery, so concider cutting back on the broth depending on how many vegetables you are using; i omitted fennel because i'm not a fan of it, and that might have had something to do with it.

This is a great dish I make often. It can be simplified by not separating the sausage but by pouring off the excess grease when it's almost done frying and adding onions (sub sliced sweet onion) directly to the sausage. Add the root veggies with the stock since the listed time is a little short. The veggies can be whatever you have available. I add 2 lb cubed potatoes and 8-16 of frozen veggies for soup (when the brussels sprouts are added) to the listed veggies.

This is a great dish I make often. It can be simplified by not separating the sausage but by pouring off the excess grease when it's almost done frying and adding onions (sub sliced sweet onion) directly to the sausage. Add the root veggies with the stock since the listed time is a little short. The veggies can be whatever you have available. I add 2 lb cubed potatoes and 8-16 of frozen veggies for soup (when the brussels sprouts are added) to the listed veggies.

Really good if you like vegetables. You can omit or substitute depending on what you like. I would use more sausage--the recipe to me seemed to serve 6, but it could've used more sausage