Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup

Ok Lisa, you are an all star when it comes to posting lots of recipes. After we made this meal on New Year's Eve, I have had some recipe requests, so here is my first contribution to the food blog!

When I go to Olive Garden, I can never decide what to get and I inevitably end up ordering the delicious soup/salad/bread option. Yum! Once I tried the Zuppa Toscana soup (a spicy potato flavor), I could never go back. I have searched for a similar recipe and this one takes the cake. We often have Olive Garden flavor at home now with this recipe, though I make changes to the recipe in effort to be healthy. I added my variations in the recipe.

Makes: 6-8 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 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 (I use half and half)
  
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
• ¼ of a bunch of kale

1. Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients. (Or do it the night before)
   
2. In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
3. Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.
4. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
5. Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.
6. Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through and serve. Delicious! (I stir in the sausage, wait for the grease to rise to the top, and then skim it all off before adding in the kale)

Yum! We also make a copycat Olive Garden salad. You need:

Lettuce
Red Onion sliced into rings
black olives
sliced tomatoes
croutons
banana peppers
Kraft Fat Free Zesty Italian salad dressing

Toss together and enjoy!

And, if you want to add some tasty breadsticks to the meal, I have enjoyed this recipe from the fabulous Real Mom Kitchen for delicious breadsticks, though I did add more salt in the dough then the recipe called for which enhanced the flavor.

Divine Breadstick Recipe found here:
Yum. Now I am hungry!