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 frozen southern style hashbrown potatoes or 4 russet potatoes, diced (I prefer to use a combination of both as I prefer some potato with skin in this soup)
• 1 pinch salt, to taste
• 1 pinch black pepper, to taste
• 4 cups 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 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 or larger crock pot, add cooked sausage, onion, garlic, and diced potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour chicken broth over contents. There should be enough broth to cover the potatoes, but if there isn’t, add up to 2 cups of water so potatoes are completely 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!