Recipe Highlight: Tuscan Soup

IMG_6801rev1
We’ve been buried in snow for the past three days and I’m going stir crazy. The girls haven’t had school in almost three weeks now, yay for them…woe for me. As much as I hate a routine life, I need to get back to my routine of waking up at a reasonable time, sending the girls off to school, having time to put the house in order, being able to run errands without dragging three reluctant kids around and working up the motivation to get dressed in something other than sweatpants. Being sick doesn’t help either.

On the bright side, I’ve been cooking a lot more than I had been in the past several months. We had been eating out more often since the school year started due to our busy schedules and various after school activities. But in the past several days, it’s been too cold to go out and all the after school activities have been canceled so we’ve been having a lot more homemade meals. As I mentioned in a previous post, when the temperature drops, I tend to crave something warm and brothy. I was thinking comfort food and then I just knew the one dish that would hit the spot, the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana. It’s not only brothy but creamy, soothing and hearty as well. What’s even better is that my girls and hubby are a big fan of it. The first time I had this soup was at a friend’s house and when I asked her for the recipe, she said, “Just google Olive Garden Tuscan Soup.” And so I did and found several different versions. I found a couple of recipes that I liked and modified them even more. The result became a go-to recipe for cold winter days.

Today’s natural high: Despite the inconveniences of a major snow storm, I couldn’t help but smile seeing the joy in my girls’ faces as they played in the mounds of snow in our backyard.

Tuscan Soup Recipe
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients

1/4 cup bacon bits (You may use 3 bacon strips or pre-packaged bacon bits.)
1 lb Italian sausage (I use sweet Italian sausage.)
1 large onion*
2-3 garlic cloves*
4 cups chicken broth
5 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 large russet baking potatoes, sliced in half, and then in 1/4 inch slices**
1 cup heavy cream
2-3 cups kale or swiss chard, chopped or torn to bite size

Directions

1. If using bacon strips, fry bacon in your soup pot until crispy.
2. Transfer bacon to paper towel lined plate and set aside.

3. Remove casings and brown the sausage in the same soup pot making sure to break up sausage into small pieces.
4. Transfer sausage to paper towel lined plate and set aside.
5. Remove excess fat from the pot.
6. Add chicken broth and water to pot and stir.
7. Place whole onion and garlic in pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 25-30 minutes.
8. Discard onion and garlic remnants using a slotted spoon.
9. Add the potatoes and cook on medium heat until almost done. About 15 minutes.
10. Add sausage and crumbled bacon to the pot.
11. Add salt and pepper to taste.
12. Add heavy cream and stir.
13. Add kale or swiss chard.
14. Lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until heated thru.
15. Serve with crusty bread.

Notes:
*Most versions of this recipe call for chopped onions and minced garlic but I prefer  a more clear broth without bits of onion and garlic so I put in a whole onion and whole garlic cloves to flavor the broth and remove them when done.
**Make sure to not slice the potatoes too thin or they will fall apart during the cooking process.

If you like this post, I would really appreciate it if you could vote for me by clicking on the badge below. Thanks!!
Visit Top Mommy Blogs To Vote For Me!

Linking up with:  Thriving Thursday | What I’m Loving Friday

One thought on “Recipe Highlight: Tuscan Soup

  1. Pingback: Winter Survival Guide + GIVEAWAY | My Rose Colored Shades

Comments are closed.