I’m really in love with butternut squash these days and I have been finding lots of new ways to use it. Here it brightens up beef stew, which can be a bit dreary looking, turning a tired old standard into something more unexpected and elegant.

Ingredients

　　3 tablespoons olive oil

　　1 onion, chopped

　　2 garlic cloves, chopped

　　1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

　　1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

　　1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

　　1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

　　2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

　　2 pounds stew beef, cut into 2-inch cubes

　　1 cup Marsala wine

　　1 pound butternut squash, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes

　　1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

　　3 to 4 cups beef broth

　　2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

　　Crusty bread, for serving

　　In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, rosemary, and thyme and sauté until the onion is tender, about 4 minutes. Combine the salt, pepper, and flour in a medium bowl. Add the beef cubes and toss to coat with the seasoned flour. Turn up the heat under the soup pot to medium-high and add the beef. Cook until the beef cubes are browned and golden around the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the Marsala and use a wooden spoon to gently stir up all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the butternut squash and sun-dried tomatoes and stir to combine. Add enough beef broth to just cover the beef and squash. Bring the stew to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Season the stew with additional salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Serve with crusty bread alongside.

　　Reprinted with permission from Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites by Giada De Laurentiis. Copyright © 2008 by Giada De Laurentiis. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Giada De Laurentiis is the star of Food Network's Everyday Italian and Behind the Bash. She attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and then worked in a variety of Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck's Spago, before starting her own catering and private-chef company, GDL Foods. The granddaughter of movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, Giada was born in Rome and grew up in Los Angeles, where she now lives.