Easy Ways To Cook Zuppa Toscana
I’ve noticed that whenever I post a recipe with a title “copycat”, people tend to think that it’s the exact same recipe from the restaurant – so I decided not to add the word to the title. I really like Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana (that yummy soup with Italian sausages and potatoes) and I found a wonderful recipe that is pretty similar to it. But again I am not going to say it tastes exactly like the one at the restaurant, because people get angry if they don’t agree. Trust me, I’ve gotten some nasty hate mail saying that it doesn’t taste anything like it or what not. But I’ve also gotten some emails from fans who tried and loved it and said that it was even better than the one at the restaurant.
So what I’m trying to say here, if you want to make a dish that you love at your favorite restaurants, don’t expect to find the exact same recipe on the internet and get mad at whoever tried to post the recipes on their blog, just go to the restaurant. But if you’re willing to try it out and see if you like the homemade version of your favorite dish, then the recipe is yours. Sorry, but some people can be so mean in their comments and I do not like them at all. So if your comments are offensive and accusing, don’t even bother to comment because they won’t get published.
Since my husband and I both love things a little spicy, I added a little heat to the soup. But you can definitely omit that. This soup is pretty easy to make. And the combo of Italian sausage and potatoes… and kale (mm, kale is just amazing in this soup!) is just wonderful. My family is a huge fan of this recipe and we often talk about it whenever we’re craving some hearty, filling soup.
Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
3 links spicy Italian (or mild) sausages, skinned
4 medium potatoes, peeled, cut in half moons
3/4 cup water
1 chickn bouillon cube
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3 cups 1% or 2% milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup torn kale leaves
Instructions
In a saucepan, add the sliced potatoes, 3/4 cups water, and chicken bullion and bring it to a boil. When the water boils, reduce the heat to simmer. Simmer until the water is almost gone and the potatoes start to brown just a little bit. Remove from heat.
In a large skillet, place the sausage links over medium high heat. Break up the sausages in small chunks as you cook them on the pan, using a wooden spoon. When the sausages are fully cooked, place them on paper towel to drain oil. Make sure you get rid of oil as much as you can.
In a large dutch oven, add the cooked potatoes and the cooked sausages with chopped garlic and stir well with a spoon and let it cook for about 3 minutes. Add the cayenne (if you like a little heat: but really, it’s not too spicy. If you can endure heat well, then add this, it’s amazing. If you don’t want any heat, don’t add any.), paprika, oregano, and garlic powder and stir well.
Add the milk and whipping cream together and stir well and continue to cook to bring it to a boil. When the milk mixture boils, add the kale leaves and continue to cook about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook until the leaves are softer, about 5-8 minutes.
I am a huge fan of smoothie. This yummy and fruity drink I made when I first got my Vitamix blender. I am still in love with it and I use it all the time. I like to make Green Smoothie – I am a huge fan of spinach in my smoothie for some reason. But every once in a while, I love to make fruity smoothie as well.
This berry smoothie is so delicious! It’s a little thick and you get all your favorite berries in one glass. It’s also super low in calories as the recipe uses berries and yogurt.
Sometimes I like to use Fat free Greek yogurt instead of low fat vanilla yogurt. I like “Fage” and it’s perfect for smoothies like this. But that is just my preference.
You just need to combine all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. I like to freeze fresh berries so that I can make smoothies with them. If you’re buying frozen fruits, make sure that they don’t have added sugar and they are unsweetened. Try to buy all natural. But freezing your own berries works just fine. I’ve done it many times and it works great every time.
Very Berry Smoothie
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Recipe adapted from Vitamix
Ingredients
½ cup water
¼ cup vanilla low fat yogurt
½ cup frozen unsweetened strawberries
½ cup frozen blueberries
½ cup frozen raspberries
Instructions
Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.
