Zuppa Toscana
Olive Garden is a popular restaurant chain in North America, serving Italian-American food, similar to the East Side Mario's chain. Although I haven't been to an Olive Garden in well over a decade, I thought I'd make one of their signature dishes, Zuppa Toscana (Tuscan soup).
The copycat recipes I found online had some aspects I didn't like, so here is my tweaked version:
Zuppa Toscana
4 main-course servings
Ingredients
And there you go--one of the easiest meals ever!
Note: You can use vegetable stock in a pinch. Can use spinach, fresh or from frozen, if preferred. Sausage can be mild., spicy, or both.
Zuppa Toscana
The copycat recipes I found online had some aspects I didn't like, so here is my tweaked version:
Zuppa Toscana
4 main-course servings
Ingredients
- 8 oz Italian sausage, cooked and cut into 1/2" slices
- 2 medium potatoes, cut into 1/4" slices
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 3 slices bacon, snipped into 1/2" slices using kitchen scissors
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup fresh kale or spinach, washed, dried, and shredded
- 2 tablespoons sodium-reduced chicken stock
- 4 cups water
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- olive oil
- dried Italian spices (or a blend of parsley, oregano, basil, garlic salt, and black pepper)
- Cook the bacon and drain very well. Set aside.
- Cook onions in olive oil until they turn translucent.
- Add the garlic and a pinch of Italian spices, or to taste, and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken stock, water, and potatoes, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer 15 minutes.
- Add the bacon, sausage, kale, and cream. Simmer 6 more minutes.
- Serve soup with crusty bread and/or a salad.
And there you go--one of the easiest meals ever!
Note: You can use vegetable stock in a pinch. Can use spinach, fresh or from frozen, if preferred. Sausage can be mild., spicy, or both.
