Knock-off Zuppa Tuscana
In true blogger fashion my first posts, back in the yee-olde days of the Breezehome blog, were about food. I figured being a professional cook this was right in my wheel-house, plus if every mommy blogger with a stove could write a cook book why not me? Some one with an actual culinary education. I didn’t post a whole lot though, mostly because running a food blog is expensive when you live below the poverty line and most of you meals come in one liquid form or another. Seriously I lived on meal replacement shakes and Hennessey for about 4 years.
These days I’m in a much better place and am back up in that old saddle with a goal! So I figured I’d share one of my first recipes which hasn’t had it’s chance to shine on this new site. This is a clear knock off of an Olive Garden favorite. It hits the spot in the middle of harsh Wyoming winters and makes kale palatable for even the staunchest of critics.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground Italian Sausage
- 2 quarts large dice waxy potatoes (Reds or Yukon Golds)
- 2 bushels of kale, de-stemmed and cut into large pieces
- 1 quart of chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 quart of cream
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- flour
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
Method
- In a hot pot, over medium-medium high heat, brown your meat
- When the meat is 2/3 done, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, then add enough flour to soak up the fat from the sausage. You’re going to want to cook this a bit till it comes together, this is your roux.
- Pour in your chicken stock and use the end of your spoon to scrape the burned bits off the bottom of the pot and work them back into the soup. This is deglazing the pan. Bring to a brief boil. Make sure to get all the lumps worked out during this step.
- Boil 15 seconds then reduce down to a simmer, stir in your heavy cream.
- Add in onion powder and your potatoes, and let simmer till they’re about 3/4 of the way cooked. Be sure not to over boil or your broth break and get grainy.
- When your potatoes are 3/4 of the way cooked add your kale and cover. Cook about 20 more minutes, being sure to stir and submerge the kale periodically.
When serving I add red pepper flakes for extra zing, but that can be a bit spicy for some people. A lot of this soups flavor comes from the spice mix already found in the sausage meat.
Living 70 miles away from the nearest OG, I tend to make this recipe quite a bit, especially when the roads are closed down and we want something different.