Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Zuppa Toscana

I was searching around the Internet for recipes this past weekend when I came upon this soup recipe. I have never had Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden, or in general, but all of the ingredients in this recipe sounded like they would be delicious together. Not the least bit healthy but definitely delicious. :)

This made a nice and hearty soup that was comforting on a cold and snowy evening. My husband and I both give it two thumbs up. I look forward to making this again sometime soon.


I made a few changes to the recipe but nothing that would change it to dramatically. I really dislike fennel seed so I used country style sausage and added some black pepper and red pepper flakes to it. I omitted the onion and subbed in some onion powder. I used baby spinach instead of Kale and half and half instead of heavy cream. Since I used half and half instead of heavy cream I smashed up some of the potatoes to give the soup a thicker consistency.


Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden Copycat Recipe)
Source: Robbie's Recipes

Ingredients
1 pound spicy Italian sausage - crumbled
1/2 pound smoked bacon - chopped
4 cups water
2, 14.5 ounce cans (about 3 2/3 cups) chicken broth
2 large russet potatoes - scrubbed clean, cubed
2 garlic cloves - peeled, crushed
1 medium onion - peeled, chopped
2 cups chopped kale OR Swiss chard
1 cup heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper - to taste

Directions

1. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you fry it; drain, set aside.
2. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown bacon; drain, set aside.
3. Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
4. Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add kale and cream to pot; season with salt and pepper; heat through.

14 comments:

Ally said...

Yum, we love this soup!

Spryte said...

That looks so good!

Erin said...

We made this over the summer because we got kale in my CSA - I really liked it and I think it would be much better in the fall/winter than it was on a hot summer night :)

Kelly said...

LOL -- I made this last night! Must be a popular flavor combination for all the chilly weather :-)

Anonymous said...

This looks so good- what a great dinner idea! I can't wait to try this!

That Girl said...

This actually looks better than Olive Garden's!

ashley said...

i've never had it at olive garden either but every time i see it on a blog i think about how I need to try it out. looks good!

Jessica said...

soup is great on cold snowy days! Thanks for the inspiration!

CB said...

Mmmm... I love zuppa toscana! I totally starred this to try when the weather turned colder. Apparently CA didn't get the winter memo b/c its high 80s here! HAHA
/Clara

gaga said...

I LOVE this soup! I just saw that Olive Garden has a new soup that I can't wait to try.

Michele said...

Yummy! Looks stick to your ribs good! I thought I was the only person who didn't like fennel seed. People look at me like I'm crazy when I ask if sausage has fennel in it.

Cassi said...

This is my favorite soup from Olive Garden...I love dipping my breadsticks in there too.. But those Freakin Fantastic Garlic Knots might be just as good dipped in there. MMMMMMMMMMMMM

Anonymous said...

Oh it sounds so good... the one I tend to use is the one at italian food forever (links from there never work right for me so I'll tinker abit and email you one later... (much easier than mine which takes too stinking long and still pretty good)

Jade said...

I have had this starred in my goodle reader and I finally made it last night. It is so good!! Thanks for blogging about it.