Recipe: Tuscan potato soup | Zuppa patate Toscana

The second course of the Italian birthday dinner was this Tuscan potato soup which is very similar to Olive Garden's bottomless potato soup. I found the copycat recipe online years ago and have been making it since. It's a little spicy (which you don't expect), and the blend of vegetables, meat, and the creamyb chicken broth all make for a flavorful soup. Because it's not too thick, it's not super filling, and thus makes a proper second course for a four-course meal. But because it's creamy, it's still hearty enough to please the palate.

The kale adds a little texture and color to the soup but my husband had picked out the wrong kale at the grocery store--I needed the curly, leafy kind but he chose one that tasted like straight-up grass and dirt. Who knew there was more than one kind of kale? So sorry, but this phohto doesn't have the green kale. And remember, if the Blind can Cook it, so can you.

Recipe: Tuscan Potato Soup

Summary: A knock-off of Olive Garden's soup

Ingredients

• 3 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth
• 9 c. water
• 3 to 5 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 lb. Italian sausage, loosely grounded
• 4 lg. red potatoes, unpeeled and thinly sliced
• 1 lg. white onion, finely chopped
• 3 to 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2/3 c. half-and-half
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tbsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 c. chopped kale leaves

Instructions

1. In a lg. stockpot, combine water, chicken broth, salt, and potatoes. Set to a low boil.
2. In a separate pan, fry up bacon until slightly crispy. Set bacon aside, saving the grease in the pan.
3. In the same pan used to cook the bacon, add the Italian sausage, onion, and olive oil. Simmer on low until sausage is cooked through, stirring occasionally.
4. Add bacon and sausage mixture into the soup pot. Mix the garlic, cayenne pepper, and half-and-half into the soup pot. Cover and simmer on low for 30 min.
5. Five min. before serving, stir in the chopped kale leaves.

Variations

I used turkey bacon and Italian turkey sausage for a slightly healthier option. (And also because my husband doesn't eat pork.)

Cooking time (duration): 60

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: Italian

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