Toscana Soup

I recently found out that my friend Naomi is also on a diet.  She started in February and has lost 28 pounds.  She's shorter than me (I'm 5' 1"), so that is a LOT.

She turned me on to this recipe.  It's from Natasha's Kitchen site.  She said that she used cauliflower instead of potatoes and spinach instead of kale and instead of 6 cups of water she put in 4 cups.  I copied her exactly, and ho came out so ono.

 

Ingredients

• 6 oz bacon chopped
• 1 lb Italian Sausage The "Hot" variety
• 1 medium head garlic 10 large cloves, peeled and minced or pressed
• 1 medium onion finely diced
• 4 cups chicken broth/stock (32 oz)
• 6 cups water (48 oz)
• 5 medium russet potatoes peeled and chopped into 1/4" thick pieces
• 1 kale bundle leaves stripped and chopped (6 cups)
• 1 cup whipping cream
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese to serve optional

Instructions

In a large pot over medium-high heat, add chopped bacon and sauté until browned.  Remove bacon and spoon out excess oil, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pot.

Add Italian sausage, breaking it up with your spatula and sauté until cooked through (5 minutes).  Remove.

Finely dice onion and add to the pot. Saute 5 minutes or until soft and golden.  Add minced garlic and saute 1 minute.

Add 4 cups broth and 6 cups water and bring to a boil.  Add sliced potatoes and cook 13-14 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork.

When potatoes are nearly done, add chopped kale and cooked sausage and bring everything to a light boil.

Stir in 1 cup cream and bring to a boil.  Season to taste with salt and black pepper then remove from heat.  Garnish with bacon and grated parmesan.

Here's a video you can watch: