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Zuppa Toscana
(ala Olive Garden via my kitchen)
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground Italian sausage
( I used half sweet Italian and half hot Italian sausage)
1 tsp crushed red peppers
1 large diced white onion
2 tsp garlic
(you can puree it if you want. I used finely minced)
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
(or half and half or skim milk if you want. Your choice)
4 large potatoes, cubed
6-8 cups of fresh baby spinach
DIRECTIONS:
1. Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.
2. In the same pan, sauté onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
3. Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.
4. Add the cubed potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
5. Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.
6. Stir in the sausage and the spinach, let all heat through and serve. Delicious!
There are so many versions of this recipe floating around on the interwebs that I can't remember where I first heard of it. I have made at least three different versions and this one is a compilations of what I liked in them.
