Monday, March 21, 2011

Zuppa Toscana

We were at an Olive Garden in Winnipeg last month, and ordered the Zuppa Toscana.  I make a lot of homemade soup, but I had never thought of using Italian sausage and greens in it before, so I was inspired to make this soup at home.  Whenever we really like a recipe at a restaurant, we usually search the internet for copycat versions, and this soup certainly has plenty of copycat recipes.  I used this one as my starting point, and then adapted it to suit my tastes.

ZUPPA TOSCANA
1 lb. spicy Italian sausage
1 onion, diced
4 c. chicken broth
2 c. water
3 large russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 c. baby spinach, chopped
1 c. whipping cream

Brown sausage and onion and set aside.  Drain off any fat, then pour in broth and water and bring to a boil.  Add potatoes and boil until cooked.  Stir in spinach and add sausage and onion back to the pot.  Stir in cream and heat through.
This soup was easy to make, and very hearty.  I should have made a half-batch because it made an enormous pot of soup!  It's not too spicy, but it is too spicy for the kids, so my husband and I will be eating this soup for lunch every day this week!  Luckily it's delicious, so I don't mind.
Pin It!

3 comments:

Beth Sowell said...

I bet this is good with the spinach. The copycat version I've made is made with kale and it's wonderful as well. I think the original is kale. But certain members of my family don't like kale. Maybe I'll give this version a whirl instead!

Anonymous said...

please have all your receipes printer friendly, otherwise to print we get the receipe and all the comments and waste a lot of paper.

Anonymous said...

I, too, believe the original is either kale or swiss chard. Either would hold up better during the re-heating process. Spinach is great when added just before serving. Overcooking gives it that "canned spinach" taste.
Another solution would be to "chiffonade" the kale or chard so that it is in "thin ribbons" that your family won't notice! This is one of my favorite soups! Buon appetito!