Get your soup on!: Olive Garden Knock-off!

Yesterday, I couldn't wait to get cooking! so I think I started this at 12pm...more so because my kids were sleeping ;) My absolute favorite soup at Olive Garden is the Zuppa Toscana. Who doesn't love a warm, creamy potato soup? add some italian sausage, some hearty greens and a bit a kick (red pepper flakes) and you have yourself a delicious winter meal in a bowl!

Found the recipe here on Ucreate Foods and the best part was....it was a daddy-made dinner challenge! so its super easy for those who don't necessarily always make dinner! I added a green salad tossed in Tuscan Italian Dressing and some garlic bread to top things off and VOILA! We were eating Olive Garden at home (minus the fancy music, the Italian decor and the bill)

Olive Garden Toscana Soup

5 1/2 c water

5 tsp chicken bouillon powder or granules or 5 bouillon cubes ( I used actual chicken stock instead of cubes and less water)

1/2 c heavy cream ( I didn't have this item, so I used 1% milk) to make the soup thicker when using milk you can melt a half stick( or a little less) of butter in a small skillet then add a 1/4 cup flour....stir continuously until you make a paste then add it to the pot of boiling soup...this thickens the soup!

5 medium potatoes

1 medium onion

1 bunch chopped kale

1 lb mild Italian sausage

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Use one big stock pot for everything....place sausage in the bottom of the pot and use a little bit of water to cook at medium heat. When one side is brown, flip them (you might need to add a little more water). When meat reaches 180 degrees, they are cooked. but really i just eyeballed it ;) when they were brown and "blown up looking" (ya like my fancy cooking terms...hehe)

While you are cooking sausage you can peel and cut up potatoes, onions and kale. When the sausage is done take it out of the pot, and let cool a little bit. Add the onions to the pot (not rinsing sausage mess out) and cook until tender. Add the Chicken stock ( and/or water with bullion depending on what you have. Then add potatoes and whipping cream (or milk). Once sausage is cooled, cut long ways and then cut into bite-sized pieces.Add the Kale to the pot and cover for a little bit until the kale cooks down. Add the red pepper flakes. Let the soup simmer until the potatoes are cooked and the kale is tender. Cutting your potatoes smaller will help it to cook faster (for those of you who don't have hours! ;)

If you are a visual learner, like myself, you can check out Ucreate Foods for the picture by picture guide! I like to see if I am doing things right! I hate when I get to a point in the recipe and you have no clue whether or not you should serve this to someone because you have no IDEA if this is what you are supposed to be doing.....or is that just me? HAH!

Enjoy this tasty bowl of goodness and let me know what you think...though I can not take credit! And, if you have any other yummy soup recipes I am always in the market!