Rip offs...can sometimes be a good thing!!

Ok, so I am sitting here beginning to write about one of my favorite things that's taken me awhile to get just right before I could share it with you all! PS, I started this at 8:21pm and now it is 12:02am the next day...clearly I cannot get my thoughts together today. SMH...anyway...

Ever hear of this restaurant called Olive Garden...? Haha, of course you have! I am obsessed with their Zuppa Toscana soup, as well as their salad, breadsticks etc...I have wanted (and tried many times) to recreate this fantastic soup in my home, but it's been surprisingly more difficult than expected. After many BAD batches, burned fingers and finally switching out a few ingredients to make this significantly healthier, I think this one is the golden ticket!

So, read below about MY version of Zuppa Toscana, which is much healthier but equally as delicious, as well as my recipe for homemade Italian dressing! Enjoy friends!

Ingredients:
- 2 small yellow onions
- 1 package turkey sausage (sweet, hot or plain)
- 1 large bunch of Kale
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 20 oz of chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 quart of water
- 3 Russet potatoes
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Turkey Sausage Seasoning (to make it taste more like the gross sausage. haha)
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp of dried dill (or thyme, or skip it if you don't have any of these..no worries!)

Ok, so here are the instructions...ready?!?

STEP 1: You need to de-case (not sure if that's a real phrase/word or not but oh well...) the turkey sausage. In my case, I got the sweet turkey sausage. They look and taste pretty close to the real dealio but I have added my turkey sausage seasoning above to add more of a kick if you want. To de-case (there's that word again) the sausage, just take the sausage and squeeze it. The meat will come out, probably both ends. And this is where I shall stop the description because this is sounding gross. :-/ Ha!

The kind of Turkey Sausage I get!

Split open the sausage casing and squeeze the contents into a large pot.

STEP 2: Add your chopped up garlic to the pot along with your 3 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and start cooking your sausage over high heat and mash up with a potato masher or spatula to break it up. You want it in bite size chunks when it goes into the crock pot. Cook until just done, slightly pink still. 

Add caption

STEP 3: Chop up your yellow onions and add them into the sausage, garlic and EVOO mixture. Add the salt and pepper here as well. Continue to cook over medium/high heat until onions are starting to become tender and all the meat is cooked through. 

Sausage, onions, garlic and EVOO

STEP 4: Add your turkey sausage seasonings. This is an optional step since some people might want a milder flavor. I wanted a true sausage/rich flavoring in mine, so I added the above spices/seasonings to achieve that. You want to make sure not to overcook the turkey since it's so lean. It doesn't have the fat that regular sausage or beef has, which makes it healthier, but also can make it more finicky to cook with. Stir over med/high heat until well incorporated and add into your crockpot. Pull out your bunch of Kale and chop into strips/bite sized pieces. Set aside, you won't use this until towards the very end. 

KALE!!!!!

STEP 5: Rinse out your pot that you had your turkey, garlic, and onions in. There's no need to wash it since we are combining all of these steps anyway :-) Pour 20oz of chicken stock, 1 quart (4 cups for those of you who aren't math wizards haha) and cook until simmering on the stove. Pull out your 3 russet potatoes, wash and dry them and cut them length wise (hot dog way for us that need that visual from elementary school!) and then slice in half moon shapes. I wouldn't go thicker than 1/4 or an inch or so. But honestly, no one will be measuring. Then pop those puppies into the pot of chicken stock and water and cook for 2-3 minutes. 

You can use russet, red skin, or yukon gold potatoes. I like the russet since it's original to the recipe from OG

Half moon shapes baby!

Put them in the hot tub and let them relax for a few

STEP 6: Once the potatoes have relaxed in their hot tub for 2-3 minutes, pull out a strainer spoon and put the potatoes into the crockpot with your turkey sausage deliciousness. 

Strain and add to crockpot. Don't worry, they won't be too delicate to handle

STEP 7: Continue to let the broth cook and add in a cup of plain, greek yogurt. I believe the original OG recipe calls for almost 2 cups of heavy cream...yeah, that's not gonna work for me. So, I've found that plain greek yogurt adds an awesome flavor in place of sour cream, butter, milk and even heavy cream. Not in everything, but in lots of things. Pour that into the simmering pot of broth and wisk your little heart out until it's well incorporated. Don't let it sit too long or it will start to separate. 

I love the meijer plain greek yogurt

Yes, my pots and oven are old. Don't judge. And please don't just plop the yogurt down in there like I did.
You will get burned. And it will hurt. 

Wisk away!

STEP 8: Dang, step 8? Ugh, I promise in real life, it didn't take this long. But I guess when I'm having to write out all my thoughts, steps, processes, rabbit trails and such...it does take longer. :-) I did all of this in less than 30 min...just for those of you that are starting to freak out seeing "STEP 8". Anyway, I digress...Step 8 is pouring the combination of broth and yogurt into the crockpot. Once you pour it into the crock pot give it a stir, turn the heat onto high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-6 hours. 

I like to stir with a ladle at first

YUM!!! Resist the urge to eat this now, let it simmer and cook for awhile first!

STEP 9: Phew!!! Under 10 steps! YES!!!! The last step is to enjoy this amazeballs soup in your favorite white pottery barn bowl, or a sweet dollar store bowl like we do in our house! Haha. 

You guys...I mean, come on....amazing. 

I just died. It's so freaking good. Just try it. And it's WAY better for you! Add some crusty french bread, oh man.

Sooooo....there it is!! There is my finalized recipe for my all time fav soup from the OG. I served this to my family with a salad with iceberg lettuce, croutons and my homemade vinaigrette. Speaking of which, I didn't take pics along the way but my homemade vinaigrette is so good! And it pairs well with the soup too. It has some balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic powder, dried basil, dijon mustard, olive oil, rosemary and salt and pepper. Not sure about measurements, will give those another time!! :-) 

Thanks for reading. Let me know how you like it! 

XOXO

AJ