Saturday, February 5, 2011

Zuppa Toscana

Time for another recipe! This is another favorite in my house, so I always make a double batch. I found this recipe online at a site for Italian recipes; they claim that the original came from someone who used to work at Olive Garden. It certainly tastes like the soup from the restaurant, and it is delicious with a side of salad and some french bread. I have adapted the recipe to fit our tastes.

Recipe #3, adapted from www.tuscanrecipes.com/recipes/olive-garden-zuppa-toscana.html

Zuppa Toscana
makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb ground Italian sausage
1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 pkg bacon
1 heaping Tbsp minced garlic (we like a lot of garlic)
10 cups water
5 cubes chicken bouillon, or 5 tsps chicken "Better than Bouillon"
1 1/4 cup whipping cream
3 large Russet potatoes, or 6 red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced (you can leave the peel on)
1 to 1 1/2 cups red cabbage, chopped
1/4 bunch kale (about 3-4 leaves)

Instructions:
1. Begin cooking the bacon in a large skillet, as much as you can fit. As one batch finishes, lay each piece on a paper towel, let it cool, and then crumble into bacon pieces.
2. Saute the sausage and the red pepper in a large pot. Once it is cooked, drain the grease and set the sausage and red pepper aside for later.
3. Once the bacon has all been cooked and crumble, combine it with the onion and garlic in the same pot you used to cook the sausage. Saute it for about 10 minutes, or until onions are tender.
4. Add water and chicken bouillon into pot and bring to a boil.
5. Add potatoes and red cabbage to pot; cook for about 30 minutes.
6. Once potatoes are soft, add cream to pot; cook for about 5 minutes.
7. Add sausage and kale; heat thoroughly and serve!

No comments:

Post a Comment