Soup, Soup, and More Soup

It's no secret in my family, I love soup. Just about any kind of soup. And I'm always willing to try new recipes. The latest recipe I tried was for Zuppa Toscana, a soup they serve at Olive Garden.






I came by this recipe on Facebook. With a few minor changes (some suggested by the person who gave the recipe) I made it. I must admit, it was delicious. Even my hubby liked it and he's not big on creamed soups of any kind.
Another recipe I made recently was for Cream of Chicken soup - Can you tell I like cream soups. But truthfully, my all time favorite is home made chicken soup like grandma used to make. In my opinion, you just can't beat it. My mom also made this soup. Every Sunday. She stuffed the chicken first with cracker stuffing, Just before it was done, she took the chicken out and finished it in the oven. We ate the soup, with thin noodles - always thin, never wide noodles. To this day Chicken Soup tastes better with thin noodles. But that's neither here nor there. We'd eat the soup for lunch - usually around 1:00, then go to my grandparents' house. When we returned home,
Mom put the chicken back in the oven to heat, made rice, (almost always rice but occasionally mashed potatoes) gravy, and a vegetable. That's what we had for dinner. I said earlier you couldn't beat the soup, that's not quite true. Chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes or rice, gravy, and vegetable were (are) my all time favorites.
When I first got married, I continued my mom's tradition of making chicken soup every Sunday.  Sometimes we visited my grandparents or my parents and sometimes my in-laws, and sometimes we just stayed home. Whatever we did, we followed the same routine of soup for lunch and chicken for dinner.
Of course just being the two of us - except when my husband's friend dropped in - we always had leftovers and dinner for Monday and sometimes Tuesday.  As for me, I could eat soup all week. With the exception of summer that is.  I can't bring myself to eat soup in the summer even though I grew up with it. I can't remember exactly when but my husband asked me when I was going to make something American. American??? What was wrong with chicken soup?
He said he'd like some fried chicken for a change. I didn't have a clue how to make fried chicken. My mother never made fried chicken. She made Chicken Soup, Roasted Chicken, Chicken Paprikash, and Chicken with Gravy, but never just plain old Fried Chicken. My first attempts at making it from a cookbook weren't all that good. The breading always fell off. To this day, I don't make good Fried Chicken. So I stick with Chicken soup.
I'll never forget the day my mom told me that  my dad said he didn't mind telling her he wasn't all that crazy about chicken soup. After fifty years of marriage and making soup every Sunday - that's almost 3000 Sundays she made soup. God love him, he ate soup every week and never said a word. Of course, we laughed about it. Mom didn't think it was too funny at first.
I learned just how hurt she was when my husband informed me after 50+ years of marriage, the he wasn't all that crazy about carrots in the chicken soup. Seriously. I always made sure I gave him a lot of carrots and the poor man never said anything. Now, I'm very careful not to give him too many, which is fine, more for me. LOL
I still make soup often, but not every Sunday. In fact, I make it any day of the week when I have a taste for it. I usually make a large pot and have it for lunch every day until it's gone. Nothing better on these cold winter days.
Here's the recipe for the Zuppa Toscana. Try it, you'll love it. I made the low carb option.

You can find the recipe Here

For a quicker easier crockpot recipe  click here

Zuppa Toscana

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Total Time

50 mins

Creamy Zuppa Toscana recipe, full of crumbled sausage, crispy bacon and tender potatoes in a creamy broth! Make this Olive Garden Soup right at home. Low carb option included!

Servings: 6 - 8 serves

Author: Karina

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound mild Italian Sausage casings removed - (I used sweet Italian Sausage)
• 4 oz (125 g) diced bacon (I omitted the bacon)
• 1 large onion chopped
• 6 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine optional (I made it with and without, tastes fine either way)
• 1 1/2 quarts low-sodium chicken broth (I had homemade broth)
• 5 Russet potatoes scrubbed, rinsed and sliced into  1/4-inch slices* (I used the cauliflower and one turnip)
• 1 cube beef bouillon crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground fennel
• 1 teaspoon red chili flakes optional — adjust to your taste 
• 1 1/2 cups half and half or heavy/thickened cream
• 3 cups chopped kale hard stems removed (substitute with baby spinach leaves or Swiss chard) (I used the spinach)
• Fresh shredded parmesan cheese for serving
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional -- for a thicker soup) SEE NOTES (I used this also)

Instructions

1. Fry the sausage in a heavy based pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat while breaking up the meat with the end of your wooden spoon. When browned, and cooked through (about 10 minutes), drain most of the oil, leaving about 1 teaspoon of drippings in the pot. Transfer sausage meat to a plate.
2. Cook the bacon in the same pot/Dutch oven over medium heat until crispy (about 10 minutes). Drain, leaving about 2 teaspoons of drippings in the pot. Transfer cooked bacon to the plate with the sausage meat.
3. Sauté onions in the pot and cook until soft and translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant.
4. OPTIONAL: Add the wine and let reduce to half (about 2 minutes).
5. Increase heat to high, pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Season broth with crushed bouillon, salt, pepper, fennel and chili flakes. Add the potatoes and boil until fork tender (about 10 minutes).
6. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in the heavy cream, cooked sausage, bacon and kale. Let simmer for 2 minutes, until kale leaves have softened.

Recipe Notes

*For low carb option, replace potatoes with 1 head of cauliflower, chopped.

Cut potatoes into even pieces to ensure even cooking.

Chicken, turkey or beef sausages can be used.

Pancetta can be used instead of bacon.

For a thicker soup, mix cornstarch together with 2 tablespoons of cream. Mix well until free from lumps and add it in along with the cream. Give it a good stir while the soup is boiling until thickened. Then add in the cooked sausage, bacon and kale. Continue on with the recipe.