Zuppa Toscana

"I'm giving this soup a 3 only because it inspired me to develop my own recipe for a similar soup. I’d give it a one making it following the directions exactly as given. I made the recipe following t..." See morehe recipe and found the package smoked sausage inappropriate for an Italian soup. It was too salty using the bouillon powder and there wasn’t enough broth. The soup was also way too meaty and the sausage was very tough. Here is my variation of this soup. Ingredients 1 lb. hot Italian sausage, loose 4 potatoes, cut into ¼ inch slices 1 cup chopped onion 8 slices bacon, crispy 2 teaspoons minced garlic 2½ (packed) cups kale, washed, dried, and shredded 3 (14.5 oz.) cans chicken broth ½ cup heavy whipping cream fresh ground black pepper to taste Directions 1. Brown sausage in dutch oven, drain 2. In a griddle cook bacon until crispy, reserving grease, crumble, and set aside. In just enough bacon grease, about one tablespoon, sauté onions until almost clear. 3. Add garlic to the onions and sauté an additional 1 minute. Add chicken broth, potatoes, and sausage. Simmer until potatoes are cooked, about 45 minutes. 4. Add crumbled bacon, kale, cream, and fresh ground black pepper. Simmer 5 minutes and serve. "

"Great flavor. I'm a health nut so I doubled up on the kale and only used half the sausage as some have suggested. I also replaced the full-fat sausage with turkey kielbasa, which still gives great fla..." See morevor. I used canned white Northern beans instead of potatoes since I was in a hurry. If you want the creaminess in the soup without all the fat, blend a drained can of Northern white beans with chicken broth (to the consistency you want)instead of the cream. I used chicken broth instead of the water(the brand Imagine has a boxed broth that costs the same as a can for the amount -- it's the best broth I've tasted). Also, you can get the same great flavor with only three or four pieces of bacon."

"After taking the advice of several other reviewers, I think this is one of the very best soups that I have ever tried! I substituted chicken broth for the boullion cubes and water, used 5 red potatoes..." See more with the skin on, instead of 2, used 1/2 lb. Italian sausage browned instead of baked, and substituted spinach for the kale, as I'm not a huge fan of the kale in Olive Garden's version. WOW! Delicious! I took this to a gathering and everyone wanted the recipe! I definitely recommend giving this one a try!"