Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

(This picture doesn't look very appetizing but I promise it's really yummy)

I know, another restaurant recipe but without some of these recipes I would be eating out a lot more. Instead I can save the money and make it myself. This is another recipe I make all the time. I'm not a salad person and so whenever we go to Olive Garden I get this soup. I fell in love with it the first time I had it and Matt loves it to.

Zuppa Toscana (or as I call it Sausage/Potato Soup)

• 1 lb. ground Italian sausage
• 1 1/2 t. crushed red peppers (Italian sausage already has quite a few red pepper flakes in it and so I only add 1/2 t. or else it gets a little too spicy for me)
• 1 lg. white diced onion (I like quick and I hate chopping onions so I have one of the food storage sized cans of dried onions and they work great. I use 1/3 c. of dried onions)
• 4 T. bacon pieces (I buy the big bag of real bacon pieces at costco, they work great in mashed potatoes too)
  
• 2 tsp garlic puree (love this stuff!)
• 10 c. water
• 5 cubes of chicken bouillon (I use 6 but I'm not sure it makes that big of a difference)
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes (I usually have smaller potatoes so I use about 5 or 6)
• 1/4 of a bunch of kale (green leafy stuff that I don't add because again, not a salad person but you can find it in the Wal-mart produce section and it is only .50)

1. Sautee sausage and crushed red peppers in pot. Drain excess fat and set aside in a bowl.
2. In the same pan you cooked the sausage in, sautee bacon, onions and garlic for approximately 15 minutes or until the onions are soft. (Since I use dry onions I sautee for about 2 min.)
3. Mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add it to the onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling.
4. Slice the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices and add to the pot. Cook until soft about 30 minutes.
5. Add heavy cream and cook until thoroughly heated.
6. Stir in the sausage.
7. Add kale just before serving.