Recipe Thursday

This is a staple at our house and I made it for dinner last night. It was so so so yummy. Definitely recommend serving with bread-it tastes so great dipped in the soup!

Zuppa Tuscana

A knock off of the wonderful Olive Garden staple. The crushed red pepper really adds a great kick.

Ingredients
1 16 ounce package spicy italian sausage (ground or removed from casing)
6 slices bacon
1 medium onion (chopped)
2-3 cloves garlic (finely minced)
1 quart water
2 Tbsp chicken boullion
2 medium potatoes (1/4 inch slices)
2 cups kale (shredded)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions
1. Cook sausage over medium-high heat. Drain fat.

2. In same pot, fry bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels. Crumble and set aside.

3. Drain all but 1 t bacon fat from pot. Add onions and cook on medium heat until softened. Add garlic and cook for one minute.

4. Add water, chicken broth and potatoes. Bring a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

5. Return the cooked sausage and crumbled back to the pot. Add kale and red pepper; simmer for 4 minutes.

6. Stir in cream and cook until heated through, without boiling. Serve hot.

Notes
Don't use turkey bacon no matter how much you want to cut out the fat. It tastes terrible in this. Truly truly terrible.