zuppa toscana

I have learned to love this soup. My friend Laura was the one to get me to try it at Olive Garden. I decided that I wanted to give it a try. I search some recipes online and found one that is pretty good. Go here if you want to see the recipe.

My changes are as follows:
I have made it with Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage (good! then you don't need the hot pepper flakes), Hot Italian ground sausage (or you can get the links and remove the casings) and Jimmy Dean regular sausage (you will need a couple shakes of crushed red pepper). You will get the same result.

I am a red potato fan. I think they have a creamier texture when cooked, so I use those ALL the time.

I do not drain the sausage, I just leave it in the pan after I brown it. This time I did throw the onion in and let that sauté for a bit before adding the water and chicken broth. I also like to let the kale cook a bit, so I throw that in and let it go about 15 minutes or so.

At the end, add the cream and bacon bits.

It is so good! There is a little zing from the red peppers, but the cream makes it smooth at the same time. Does that make sense?

OH! and you can add more water than the recipe calls for, just adjust the salt to taste!

This is before adding the cream.