ZUPPA TOSCANA

I love Olive Garden for two things: Soup and Salad. Yum! My fav is their Zuppa Toscana soup. My mom recently made an Olive Garden themed dinner for my family. It included an exact replica of Olive Garden's soup. I could not tell the difference. (Granted, my mother is a wizard in the kitchen, so it may just be her magic touch.) She purchased Olive Garden's salad dressing (they sell it by the bottle), and served it with bread sticks and homemade fettuccine alfredo. Delish!

Here is a recipe for the soup:

1 lb ground Italian sausage

1½ tsp crushed red peppers

1 large diced white onion

4 Tbsp bacon pieces

2 tsp garlic puree

10 cups water

5 cubes of chicken bouillon

1 cup heavy cream

1 lb sliced potatoes

¼ of a bunch of kale broken or chopped into bite size pieces

• Saute Italian sausage with red pepper in a large pot. Drain fat. Set aside.
• In the same pot saute bacon, onions and garlic until the onions are soft.
• Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot. Heat until boiling.
• Add potatoes and cook until they are tender (20-30 minutes)
• Stir in the cream, and cook until it's heated (don't boil!)
• Mix in the sausage and kale.

Serve with breaksticks and salad for a delicious meal.