Zuppa Toscana

It’s hard to believe that I used to hate soup.  Whaaaattt????  I hated them.  And I mean all of them.  I found soup unsatisfying and uncravable.  I needed something with substance (and by substance I mean a big hunk of meat or a big hunk of bread).

How could I resist this beauty???

Nowadays the soup and salad combo is one of my favorites, especially this time of year.  I love the contrast:  a cool crunchy salad and hot comforting soup.  I went to lunch with my coworkers last week and tried Zuppa Toscana for the first time.  It was DELISH, and I knew I had to give it a shot.

So first off, what is Zuppa Toscana anyway?  Tuscan soup… not exactly descriptive.  Google tells me Zuppa Toscana is supposed to include sausage, bacon, greens, potatoes and cream.  Sounds like a good starting point! 

After some futher googlin I found a few recipes that looked pretty tasty and after some tweaking and Maryfications I ended up with some mighty tasty results!

First up, I took some help for my girl Jennie O’, and grabbed 3 hot turkey sausage links. 

I ran a knife along the back of each sausage link to cut through the casing, then removed the sausage meat and discarded the casings

Once my skillet was nice and hot, I tossed the sausage in and used a spatula to break out the meat.  When the sausage was no longer pink, I removed it from the skillet and set aside. 

Next up, I heated up a soup pot, once hot I added one large diced yellow onion, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and and 1.5 tsp red pepper flakes.  I like it hot!

Glory in a pot:

Cook the onions until soft and translucent, then add 2 boxes of low-sodium fat free chicken broth (64 ounces).  While you are waiting for the soup to come to a boil, slice up one large potato: 

Bring the the soup to a boil, then add the sliced potatoes.  Reduce to medium heat, and cook for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.  Next toss in the sausage and one cup of half and half. 

Let the soup simmer away until everything is warmed through, and just before you are ready to serve it toss in 3 cups of spinach.

VOILA!  Soup is served!

This soup was AWESOME.  Only problem was my poor potatoes practically disintegrated in the soup.  Next time I think I’ll chunk the potatoes rather than thinly slicing them.

Despite that potato problem, the soup was so tasty and it had a little kick which I loved!  If you aren’t big on spicy foods, cut the red pepper flakes and black pepper back. 

Serve with a delicious salad, of course!

Zuppa Toscana Ingredients List (makes 6 Servings)

• 3 links Jennie O’ Hot Turkey Sausage
• 1 large diced yellow onion
• 1 and 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 64 ounces Chicken Broth Fat Free Reduced Sodium Chicken broth
• 1 large potato
• 1 cup half and half
• 3 cups fresh spinach

Stats on one serving Zuppa Toscana:  207 calories, 15g carbs, 10g fat, 14g protein, 2g fiber