Hearty Sausage Stew

(6 servings)

I was poking around the bulk food section last weekend at Whole Foods and noticed a dried soup mix was on sale. It contained barley, dried peas, dried veggies and wild rice. I couldn't resist and decided to give it a try. I think it was called Minnesota Wild Rice Soup Mix or something along those lines.

The card suggested a ratio of 1 to 8 parts liquid, and I thought the addition of smoked German sausage would be nice. It also gave me the opportunity to finish up some carrots I had almost completely forgotten about. The resulting stew didn't disappoint one bit. I loved the slightly chewy texture of the wild rice.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb carrots, cut up
1 lb smoked sausage, cut into 1/2" slices
3/4 cup wild rice soup mix (I imagine any bulk soup mix with a ratio of 1 part to 8 parts liquid would be fine)
1 tbsp paprika
3 cups beef broth
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp Tabasco sauce

small handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a heavy dutch oven and add the onions and garlic. Saute until they soften and are light brown in colour.

Add the carrots, sausage, soup mix, paprika, broth, diced tomatoes and Tabasco sauce. Stir until everything is well combined.

Bring the mixture to a simmer. Lower the heat and cover tightly. Cook for about 2 hrs.

Stir in the chopped parsley, cook for another 5 minutes or so and serve.