Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana (Print Version)
# Ingredients:
01 -
2 tsp olive oil
02 -
1 lb Italian Sausage (casings removed if necessary)
03 -
4 oz bacon (about 4 slices), diced into small pieces
04 -
1 cup chopped yellow onion (about 1 small onion)
05 -
3 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
06 -
1 cup water
07 -
1 1/2 lbs Russet potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed then sliced into halves, halves diced into 1/6-inch slices
08 -
1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
09 -
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed (optional)
10 -
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
11 -
2 cups half and half
12 -
1 1/2 cups packed chopped kale
13 -
Finely shredded Romano cheese for serving, optional
# Instructions:
01 -
Heat olive oil in a large non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat. Crumble sausage into 1-inch pieces and add to saucepan. Cook sausage, stirring occasionally until cooked through. Drain sausage onto a plate or baking dish lined with paper towels, set sausage aside.
02 -
Add diced bacon to saucepan, return to heat and saute 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add diced onions and saute mixture until bacon is cooked through and onions are translucent, about 3 - 5 minutes longer.
03 -
Add chicken broth, water, sliced potatoes, sugar, fennel seeds, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring soup just to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and stir in cooked sausage.
04 -
Cover saucepan and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are nearly tender, about 10 - 15 minutes.
05 -
Add in kale then simmer until potatoes are soft and kale is tender, about 5 - 10 minutes longer.
06 -
Stir in half and half and warm through. Use a spoon or ladle to remove excess fat from top of soup if desired. Serve warm topped with Romano cheese.
# Notes:
01 -
This is a copycat recipe of Olive Garden's popular Zuppa Toscana soup.
02 -
If you'd like more flavor sometimes you can add 1 large garlic clove chopped during last 1 minute of sautéing onion.
03 -
If desired you can use turkey sausage as well.
04 -
Work to cut potatoes into even size slices so they finish cooking at the same time.