Enjoy a warm bowl of this nourishing stew!
Ingredients
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 lb mushrooms (Shiitake are best! See notes below.), sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh sage, thinly sliced
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 lb peeled and cubed butternut squash
4 c low-sodium vegetable broth
4 tbsp miso paste
1/2 c crème fraîche
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground lean red meat of choice (I used venison. See notes below.)
1 tsp fresh sage, thinly sliced
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 c fresh ricotta
Instructions
In a large pot, heat butter until melted and starting to bubble. Add mushrooms and sauté until browned.
Add garlic, sage, and thyme, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add broth and miso paste. Stir to dissolve the miso paste.
Add butternut squash. Bring mixture to a boil, and boil squash for 7 to 10 minutes, or until squash can be pierced with a fork.
While the squash is boiling, in a small skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add ground meat, sage, and thyme, and brown the meat on all sides. The meat does not need to be cooked through. Once browned, remove from the heat.
After boiling the squash, add the meat to the pot. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 - 10 minutes.
Stir in crème fraîche.
Pour stew into your favorite bowls and top each bowl with a dollop of fresh ricotta.
Serves 5
Notes
Mushrooms
The mushrooms do a lot of heavy lifting for the flavor profile of this stew. Flavorful mushrooms like shiitakes are excellent! But they’re also expensive! I used about 10 oz of shiitakes, and 6 ounces of portobellos.
Meat Options
I was pretty excited to see ground venison available at the grocery store when I was shopping for this dish. It’s very likely that you won’t have that option! A lean, grass-fed ground beef would be an excellent choice. Lamb could also work. Avoiding red meat? Substitute ground turkey or chicken or crumbled tempeh.
Dairy-free
Substitute olive oil for the butter, coconut cream for the crème fraîche, and a cashew ricotta for the dairy ricotta.
Why do I love this recipe?
Most stew recipes use potatoes as their base starch. I’ve repeatedly seen that potatoes cause some of the biggest blood sugar spikes in women with PCOS (and everyone else, for that matter!). You can read more my thoughts on potatoes here. This stew uses butternut squash, which has a low glycemic load, and won’t increase blood sugar nearly as much as a potato-based stew. This means there’s no blood sugar crash, no big spike in insulin, no big release of testosterone, and fewer resultant PCOS symptoms. This stew also gets an amazing umami flavor from the combination of mushrooms and miso. Miso is an often overlooked probiotic food, and I love adding it to dishes for both its flavor and its health benefits.
Nutrition
Calories: 493
Protein: 34g
Carbohydrates: 28g
Fat: 28g
Fiber: 4.2g
Vitamin D: 1.1%
Calcium: 16.5%
Iron: 32.5%
Potassium: 51.7%
Vitamin A: 16%
Vitamin C: 32.3%