I've been craving Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana soup lately and decided that I needed to find a recipe to enjoy at home. I adapted my version from this recipe - using chicken sausage, extra kale, and less cream to make it healthier. Even Chris likes it, although he prefers spinach instead of kale.
Copy-Cat Toscana Soup:
4 links precooked Al Fresco Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage
3/4 cup diced onions
1/4 cup cooked, crumbled bacon
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
4 1/2 cups of chicken stock
2 baking potatoes (preferably organic)
1 head of kale (preferably organic), chopped
1/3 cup of whipping cream
Scrub and pierce potatoes, bake in microwave for 5 - 8 minutes until soft, roughly chop and set aside. Remove sausage casings and roughly chop into bite-sized pieces. Cook sausage, onion, bacon in a large pot over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Reduce heat to low and add chicken stock, potatoes, and kale; simmer for 15 minutes. Add whipping cream, simmer for 5 minutes and serve.
Oh, by the way, I'm going to try to go gluten and sugar free for a couple weeks to see if that helps with some of the health issues of late. It doesn't sound particularly fun, so wish me luck!
"Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway."
Emory Austin
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| "Put on your poker face, Mom just found the holes in the yard!" |
"Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway."
Emory Austin
4 comments:
They were framed by the evil gato (moochie). I am pretty sure. Some of it is pretty good but alas not as good as sugar.Truvia is a good natural sugar substuite.
I make my own version of this for The Man probably once a month. He has dubbed it "Zuppatoni." I have converted to using a pint of half-and-half instead of the cream, and I use ground turkey mixed with some of my own Italian seasoning. Just easier to find in this town. The Man and I like LOTS of kale (but only in this recipe). Shh, he hasn't figured out that kale is "healthy" yet.
Gluten-free is a challenge. It takes a bit more planning, but it isn't too hard once you learn what you can still eat. Also, The Man doesn't realize he's eating gluten-free food most of the time. I just forget to mention, "by the way, your favorite mac and cheese? corn pasta, bucko." :D
Jniz - I've thought about trying Truvia or Stevia, but haven't decided whether I like the idea yet.
Jaggy - Chris is anti-healthy-food; me and my big mouth keep letting the cat out of the bag! I haven't tried any pasta substitutes yet, are there any brands that you recommend?
I swear The Man and your man are brothers. It's just scary sometimes.
Brown rice pasta and corn pasta are easily found in the pasta aisles at Safeway and Trader Joes. I haven't looked at Winco, but they are pretty good at carrying G-F food. Brown rice pasta is super tasty if you remember three things: 1) don't overcook it, 2) use a HUGE pot of water, the biggest you have, and 3) rinse, rinse, rinse! Then microwave to reheat. Corn pasta is much more like wheat pasta but takes a bit longer to cook. It is also more expensive. The Man can't tell the difference between wheat pasta and corn pasta.
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