Can you tell you I like soup?

Good afternoon and Happy Thursday followers!


I can't believe that there are only 5 days until Christmas and I still have Christmas shopping to do....I said I was going to be done before vacation but obviously that's not true. I know I just posted about soup the other day but I made the most delicious batch of Zuppa Toscana last night and paired it with crusty bread and nice glass of pinot noir. That's probably not the suggested pairing but after the day at work that I had...it was much needed.


For those of you who aren't familiar with Zuppa Toscana, first it is a soup served at Olive Garden. Second, it is a broad category of soup that means "soup in the style of Tuscany". It usually has some combination of kale, spinach, potatoes, cannellini beans, etc. This soup was delicious and so easy to make. Shout out to Pinterest and The Chunky Chef for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground Hot Italian sausage (I subbed turkey sausage)        

1 bag Simply Potatoes diced potatoes and onions (can substitute with 1 diced yellow onion and 4 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed)

2 cloves large garlic minced (used minced garlic in a jar)        

32 oz chicken stock

1/2 bunch kale (a couple of handfuls) de-stemmed and torn into bite sized

1 cup heavy cream

2 Tbsp flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinch of red pepper flakes optional

Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat large saute pan over medium high heat and brown sausage.Add minced garlic and stir to combine.
2. Drain off the grease and then add sausage and garlic to the bottom of crockpot.
3. Add bag of diced potatoes and onion, cover with chicken stock and water (if necessary) to completely cover potatoes and sausage.
4. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or HIGH for 3-4 (potatoes should be soft)
5. BEFORE SERVING (after potatoes are somewhat soft):
6. Whisk together heavy cream and flour until well mixed. Pour into crockpot, add kale and stir to combine.
7. Cover and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes until soup has thickened slightly.
8. Taste, season according to your tastes, and serve.

Serve with your favorite type of bread. I highly recommend crusty bread because it was delightful and so filling.

I promise to write about something better than my soup recipes in the next post. Like a review of my Shein swimsuits that I ordered for my cruise. Stay tuned everyone!

Until next time,

Danielle