This is hands down one of my favorite soups. The first time I had Zuppa Toscana soup was at my local Olive Garden. I usually got a salad for a side when I went out to eat there, but one time I decided to try the soup. I fell in love with it. Now every time I have an opportunity to go to Olive Garden I get that soup. It doesn't matter what time of year it is. It pairs really nicely with their breadsticks. Huge bonus.
Unfortunately now, living in a rural area, I no longer have an Olive Garden close by to eat at. Now I have to try to recreate some of my favorite recipes of theirs from home. Luckily this Zuppa Toscana soup is one of the easiest to recreate.
All of the ingredients for this recipe can be easily found at your local grocery store.
This recipe calls for Italian sausage. You can use either ground sausage or links if that is your preference. I prefer to use mild ground Italian sausage.
Brown the sausage and crumble it as it cooks. Then make sure to drain the excess grease before adding it to the soup.
While the ground sausage is cooking, clean the potatoes. I use a vegetable scrub brush while cleaning the potatoes to ensure all of the dirt is off of them. This recipe doesn't require the potatoes to be peeled before adding them to the soup. The potatoes can be sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced again into 1/4-inch slices. Or you can just start slicing the potato and if the slices are too big, cut them in half.
I have this nifty little chopper that makes chopping the onions a breeze.
Once the initial prep work is completed, the ingredients can be added to the crock pot. With the exception of the kale and heavy whipping cream, they'll be added shortly before serving.
Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 6-8 hours.
When the soup is finished cooking, turn off the crockpot then add the kale. I have this nice little twirl chop that works great for chopping up the kale into smaller pieces.
Once the kale is chopped up, it can be added to the soup. Cover the crockpot and allow it to sit for 5 or so minutes to allow the kale to soften.
When the kale has had a chance to soften you can now add the heavy whipping cream. Give it a good stir, then it's ready to be served.
This soup reheats extremely well and almost tastes better the next day. This is my absolute favorite meal.
