Sunday, December 02, 2012

Zuppa Toscana

By far, my favorite dish from Olive Garden is their Zuppa Toscana, along with those delicious breadsticks.  Yum!

But honestly, I don't always get to Olive Garden, nor do I have the money to go by anytime I crave this soup.  So, I went searching online because as you know, many of the restaurants have copycat recipes out there, and I do have quite a stash of bookmarked favorites to try.

I've been making this soup for a while now, but hadn't had it in a few months, probably a year or so.

Since I picked up some great looking Kale at the grocery store yesterday, it was the perfect time to make another batch.  This recipe comes from Tuscan Recipes.

Zuppa Toscana

Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana
Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 lb ground Italian sausage
1½ tsp crushed red peppers
1 large diced white onion
4 Tbsp bacon pieces
2 tsp garlic puree
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
¼ of a bunch of kale

Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.

In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.

Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.

Zuppa Toscana

Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.

Zuppa Toscana

Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.

Zuppa Toscana

Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through and serve.


Note: This recipe makes enough for our family of four, and I still have 2 mason jars with leftover soup for midweek lunches :)

3 comments:

  1. Fantastic photos!!!!! This is my favorite soup from Olive Garden, and now I have the recipe to make it. Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Sandra! This soup was DELICIOUS! Made it last night for dinner. I think I may try cannellini beans in place of the potatoes next time and use the immersion blender to thicken it up a bit.

    So, so good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is absolutely delicious! I made this last week, and my husband is requesting that I make it again next week. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

    ReplyDelete