My Version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup

Come on, fess up, who doesn’t love the Olive Garden?? We’ve all been there, just admit it. Sure, there are better Italian restaurants out there, but the OG has some pretty tasty dishes. I mean, who doesn’t want unending breadsticks and salad? Oh wait, I don’t! I’m allergic to lettuce (yes, I am!) so I’ve always ordered the soup instead. Their Zuppa Toscana soup is my favorite and so delicious! When David and I were first married I would stop by after work just to pick up soup and breadsticks. A great meal on a chilly night.....or really anytime. It has such a light and creamy broth, chunks of sausage and potato. Delish! I decided to search the internet and find a copycat recipe. I found a lot! I took bits and pieces from several recipes and made it my own.  Doesn’t the soup look delicious???

Here’s my altered version of the recipe.....

Ingredients:

Start with 6 c of chicken broth. I added an extra cup at the end (7 cup total) but not sure that it needed it.

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1 – 1 1/2 t red pepper flakes ( I used 1 t and it had a nice kick)

1 t dried oregano

2 cloves garlic minced

4 red potatoes – unpeeled and sliced very thinly

1 large onion – diced

1 bunch of kale, torn into small pieces (or 16 oz bag) – okay, that’s what the recipe called for, but I probably used about 4 cups. Just depends on what you like. I probably could have used a bit more.

2 T fresh parsley

1 cup heavy cream (OR 1/2 cup skim milk and 1/2 cup evaporated milk for a lower calorie version, which I preferred)

Directions:

• Cook sausage and onion in pot, add garlic at the end. I left the sausage in big chunks because that’s what I remember from the Olive Garden.
• Drain – or not. If it isn’t too greasy, then leave it for flavor.
• Add broth, salt, red pepper flakes, oregano and potatoes to pot and cook for about 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.
• Add kale and cook until wilted in soup
• Add cream or milk and simmer about 10 minutes
• Add fresh parsley and serve

Enjoy! This turned out so much better than I expected. I’ll be making this again really soon!