More soup for the cold winter months!  This Olive Garden copycat soup is hearty and can stand on its own as a meal.  It has it all-meat, potatoes, kale… shhhhh… hang with me, kale haters!  I promise you’ll love it.  I adapted my recipe from the Crock Pot Zuppa Toscana recipe at Homemade Hooplah.  My version has cut some corners to save time.  Last time I made this recipe I forgot to brown the sausage with garlic and onion, so I added it to the crock pot instead and it still turned out great!

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen diced onion
• 1 package Ore Ida diced hashbrown potatoes or 4 russet potatoes, diced (I sometimes use a combination of both as I love to leave the skin on red potatoes if I use them in this soup)
• 1 pinch salt to taste
• 1 pinch black pepper to taste
• 4 cup chicken broth (32 oz)
• 2 cups water
• 1 bunch kale stems removed and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (for topping)

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown and crumble hot Italian sausage, about 5-8 minutes. Add onion and garlic and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes or until some of the onion begins to turn opaque (no need to cook onion completely at this point). Drain grease from skillet.

2. In a 6 quart crock pot (or bigger), add cooked sausage & veggies plus the diced potato. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour chicken broth on top. There should be enough broth to cover the tops of the potatoes; if there isn’t, add up to 2 cups water so potatoes are covered.

3. Gently stir ingredients, cover crock pot, and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
4. Remove lid from crock pot and add kale and heavy whipping cream, then stir to combine.
5. Cover crock pot and cook on HIGH for another 30 minutes.
6. Serve zuppa toscana immediately with shredded parmesan cheese as garnish.

Simple enough!  I usually brown the sausage, onion, and garlic and dice the potatoes and store in water in the fridge the night before to make for a dump and go meal in the morning.  It’s chilly outside-hibernate and enjoy!