Zuppa Toscana Soup (Olive Garden Style)

[ColoradoRick]

A family favorite...easy to make and delicious.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

Ingredients: 5-6 russet potatoes, a yellow onion, kale, 3 cloves garlic (minced), package of bacon, package of Jimmy Dean hot sausage (unlinked is easiest but if linked remove them), 16 oz of chicken broth, sm container of heavy whipping cream (1 cup)

Fry 4-5 pieces of bacon until well done. Then pat fat off, cool, and break into small bits. Then, fry the sausage and then drain well. (If you don't drain well, you'll get a yucky red film on top of the soup from the peppers.) Chop onions and potatoes into fairly small bits and put in pot along with the chicken broth and add garlic. Add water to cover potatoes. Boil for about 45 minutes, until potatoes are pretty soft. Chop up kale into very small bits and add about 2-3 cups and then add bacon and sausage and let simmer about 15-minutes. Finally, add a few tablespoons of flour to the whipping cream and stir well then stir into the soup and let it thicken up a bit.

Tip: We've tried hot sausage that wasn't Jimmy Dean and it was VERY hot...so if you can't find Jimmy Dean you may want to use mild sausage or mix it 50/50 with hot/mild.