Zuppa Tuscana - Olive Garden

Olive Garden is easily one of the busiest restaurants in town and for a very good reason.  Almost every dish on their menu is delicious.  I would say, however, that it is far from healthy.  All of their recipes are laden with cheeses, heavy creams and likewise loads of fat...thus delicious.

For those of you who have never been to Olive Garden, but have someone climbed out from under your rock long enough to read my blog, Olive Garden offers an appetizer for nearly every entree on the menu.  Their salad is truly one of the best and I must confess that I have a bottle of their signature salad dressing in my refrigerator as I am writing this.  I, however, love to forgo the salad for what I think is their best soup, Zuppa Tuscana.  This soup is creamy and pretty easy to put together. 

Zuppa Toscana

(Olive Garden)

1 (16 oz) package smoked sausage

2 potatoes, cut into ¼ inch slices

¾ cup chopped onion

6 slices bacon

1 ½ tsp. minced garlic

2 cups kale - washed, dried, and shredded

2 Tbs. chicken bouillon powder

1 quart water

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 300º F. Layer the sausage links onto a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, or until done. Cut in half length-wise. Then cut at an angle into ½ inch slices. Place onions and bacon in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Remove bacon and crumble. Set aside. Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1 minute. Add chicken base or bouillon, water, and potatoes, simmer 15 minutes. Add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale, and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve.

I felt that this recipe (as written) is a little sausage heavy and kale light.  I used a 19 oz. package of Italian sausage.  I thought that by only being 3 oz over the amount the recipe asked for wouldn't make very much difference.  It didn't really, but there was WAY too much sausage even with 16 oz.  The next time I fix this soup (and there will be a next time), I will use half that amount of sausage.  I would also use more than 2 cups of kale.  I felt that it could have used 3 or maybe even 4 cups.  Just make sure you wash it thoroughly.  I hope you give this recipe a shot, because it has loads of flavor.  Enjoy!!