Tuscan Potato Soup

This Tuscan soup is perfect for a first course, but can also be used as a meal since it includes hearty ingredients like sausage and potato.  Now, I also want to emphasize that this is NOT the soup from the Olive Garden.  Though it is very similar, I am an Italian food snob and want to make it known that this recipe was not based on the Olive Garden recipe, though it's possible that the Olive Garden soup was based on this Tuscan recipe.

Anyway, this soup is a great winter soup.  With the cream added to the broth, it is slightly thicker, and the addition of hot Italian sausage really gives the soup a kick.  If you don't eat red meat, you could easily substitute ground chicken or turkey and just add some powdered mustard and cayenne to get that same kick.  This was a quick meal as well.  I never expect soups to be quick, but now I have two speedy soups in my arsenal!

Tuscan Potato Soup

Adapted from All Recipes

-Serves 6-

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 links hot Italian sausage

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

6 cups chicken stock

2 large yellow potatoes, cubed

1 1/2 cups kale, chopped

1/4 cup heavy cream at room temperature

salt and pepper to taste

Process:

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Remove the skin from the sausage and crumble the meat into the skillet.  Add the onion and cook until the meat is no longer pink.
2. Move the meat and onions into a large pot.  Add the stock and potatoes and bring to a boil.  Boil until the potatoes are tender.
3. Add in the kale and boil until the kale is lightly cooked, about another 5 minutes.
4. Turn the heat down to low.  Stir in the heavy cream.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve hot.

Ryan's rating of Tuscan Potato Soup: 5.

Comments

[Jeanne]

I've found lots of different hot Italian sausages made with chicken or turkey, too, so that's an easy substitution.