Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden

I have always loved the Zuppa Toscana soup from Olive Garden. However, Olive Garden is not particularly cheap, I only got to have this soup maybe a few times a year at best. But now, after modifying a few recipes I found online, I can finally make it at home. And it is so easy! Here it is:






Ingredients:

1lb Italian Sausage

1 onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

½ c. sherry wine

3 potatoes, diced (1 inch cubes)

2 cups of kale, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

1.5 cups water

1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Remove the casings of the Italian sausages and place the meat into a large Dutch oven pot.

2. Turn the heat up to medium-high and use a wooden spoon to break up the sausages so that they become crumbly as they cook.

3. Remove the sausage from the pot, leaving the oil behind.

4. Add in the diced onion and cook on medium-low heat until translucent.

5. Add in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook briefly, being careful not to burn them (about 1 minute).

6. Pour in the sherry wine and deglaze the pan.

7. Add the sausage, kale, potatoes, chicken broth, and water, stir to evenly distribute the soup components, and turn the heat up to medium-high.

8. Wait for the soup to boil and then reduce the heat down to medium to simmer for 20 minutes.

9. Add in the heavy cream slowly while stirring the soup.

10. Let the soup cook for about another minute to warm up the heavy cream.

11. Adjust with salt and pepper.

12. Serve and Enjoy! :D

When I made this soup, I used hot Italian sausage, so I left out the red pepper flakes. However, if you are using regular Italian sausages that are not at all spicy, I highly suggest you add the red pepper flakes to give it that extra kick. Furthermore, note that you can use white wine instead of sherry wine. The amount of potatoes is also adjustable. My brother loves potatoes, so I used 4 instead of 3 once. It did not affect the taste of the soup too much, but there sure was a lot of potato in that soup. For me, 3 potatoes was perfect.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the soup! J