Real Soup, Fake Recipe

Everyone Loves Soup

I don't like to go out to dinner. The pleasure of having someone cook, serve and clean without me ever having to peek into a kitchen is greatly overshadowed by my fear of how the food is prepared and by whom. It's actually quite fortuitous that I have this preference, because we save a lot of money in our entertainment fund.

I do have a problem, though. I love soup, and I don't mean that aluminum-flavored, over-salted mess that comes in a can (even worse if it's the kind you have to add water to). My real problem is that I don't make soup a lot, and when I do, it's just a conglomeration of whatever is in my freezer that I need to get rid of. If I want decent soup, I have to go to a restaurant and just pretend it isn't coming from a can or a bucket.

And then I discovered "copy-cat recipes." Yes, I'm sure I'm decades behind the trend of the copy-cat recipe, which brings the flavors of our favorite restaurants home, but I'm still pretty new to this "caring about cooking" business, so I'll jump that sinking ship.

Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, but I call the copy-cat "Suppa Tuscana"

The Olive Garden makes my favorite soup of all time, the Zuppa Toscana, a creamy and spicy blend of sausage, potatoes, bacon... and now I'm drooling. So here's the recipe.

1 lb spicy Italian sausage
1/2 lb smoked bacon, chopped
1 qt water
(2) 14.5 oz cans chicken broth
2 large russet potatoes, sliced (cleaned, with skin on)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups chopped kale or Swiss chard
1 cup heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

1) In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown your sausage, making sure it ends up pretty crumbly. Drain it and set it aside.
2) Brown the chopped bacon over medium-high heat, also; drain it, and set it aside.
3) Place the water, broth, potatoes, garlic and onionin a pot, and simmer over medium heat until the potatoes are tender.
4) Add the sausage and bacon to the pot, and simmer for 10 minutes.
5) Add the kale and cream to the pot, season to your liking with the salt and pepper, then serve after heated through. Serve and enjoy!

What I did

I had trouble with the sausage, because apparently the only spicy Italian sausage that is sold in bulk at my local grocery store is colored with paprika, and the last thing I wanted was red Suppa Tuscana. I ended up buying a two and a half pound package of sausage links that were spicy but didn't include paprika. After guessing how many sausages would be in one pound, I sliced them open, ripped off the relatively disconcerting intestinal casing, and made do.

Also, my grocery store doesn't have Swiss chard. Or kale. That irritated me, because I'm fairly certain that kale has magical properties. Okay, maybe not, but it does make me happy. So, I ended up using spinach, which I put into the soup right before serving it so it didn't end up so wilted it was unrecognizable.

The original copy-cat recipe called for cubed potatoes, but the last time I had the real Zuppa Toscana, it had sliced potatoes. So, I changed that. And I used three potatoes, because the ones I got a hold of were pretty small.

After spicing it liberally, I was seriously surprised at how perfect this recipe turned out. My fiancé was very pleased with his dinner, and what will be his lunch tomorrow, and I ate so many bowls that I was afraid to burp lest it end up on my shirt.

Don't fear the soup

This very simple recipe has sort of elevated my interest in soup from "casual observer" to "obsessed practitioner." I feel more encouraged to try other soups now, which is helpful because my recipe book is bursting with soups I want to try but didn't have the motivation to make. I feel encouraged to make them now.

One more soup I don't have to leave the house for...