Zuppa Toscana, a soup made in the "Tuscan style!" The whole family will love this healthy and hearty soup with creamy potatoes, savory Italian sausage, red swiss chard in an amazing rich, creamy, chicken based broth, topped with a fistful of crispy cooked bacon.
14-16ozItalian Sausagemild or hot if links, remove casings
2large russet potatoeswashed, diced (skins on or off, your preference)
1large onionchopped
2-4clovesof garlicminced
1-2quartschicken broth or stock
salt to taste1-1 ½ teaspoons
couple grinds of fresh black pepper
2cupsheaping swiss chard or kale, spine and course parts removed, leafy portions chopped small
¼-1/2cupheavy cream
½cupbaconchopped (or sub. ¼ cup real bacon bits, cooked)
Garnish with fresh grated or shaved parmesanoptional
Instructions
Grab a medium soup pot and heat to medium-hot; brown and crumble Italian sausage; mild or hot.
Remove the browned, crumbled sausage to a plate, set aside. Toss in your chopped bacon and cook until crisp, remove with slotted spoon to a plate with a paper towel to drain, reserve.
Dump in your chopped onion, if the sausage is lean, then simply add a little olive oil before sauteeing your onions. Saute onions until translucent & a caramel brown, about 5-8 minutes.
Add in your garlic in the last minute or so of browning the onions.
Return your sausage to the pot, you can add the bacon now too, but I prefer my bacon crispy not soft and rubbery, so I toss it on top of the soup when serving. Give it a good stir.
Start with one quart of chicken broth, then as you add your veggies you can add more broth if needed, I typically extend our soups a little further by adding an additional quart of broth, adjust seasonings to compensate for the increased liquid.
Add in your diced potatoes, cover and bring to simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife or fork. About 10-15 minutes.
Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste, about 1 teaspoon of each. Simmer a few minutes longer.
Reduce heat to low/simmer and toss in your chopped chard or kale as well as your cream*. See blog post for tips on chopping chard/kale.
Return to simmer and serve immediately. Garnish each bowl with crisp bacon bits and shaved parmesan, if desired.
Serve with a crisp salad, a good loaf of Italian bread slathered with butter and enjoy!
Notes
*This recipe doubles and freezes beautifully. Remove portion to freeze before adding chard/kale and cream. Cool completely and pour into container or gallon freezer baggie, removing as much air as possible, freeze flat. When ready to serve, thaw in refrigerator overnight, reheat until simmering and add in chopped chard/kale and cream. If you forget or have leftovers you want to freeze with the cream and greens, it will be fine, you may have a little separation of the cream when reheating, stir well.