Recipe: Tuscan Potato, Spinach (or Kale), and Sausage Soup
A few weeks ago, I had the Bible Study Babes to my house for lunch, and I served this soup. They all asked for the recipe. And when I didn’t send it in a timely manner, they hunted me down like a dawg.
Even though it has a long, fancy name, we’ve decided to rename it: Life-Changing Soup. Yes, it’s that good.
If you are a local gal and receive my women’s ministry newsletter, you already got this. Today I publish the recipe for the rest of the planet.
You’re welcome.
This recipe comes compliments of The Everything Mediterranean Slow Cooker Cook Book, and is a copy-cat recipe of a soup served at The Olive Garden. But since it requires a lot of stovetop cooking on the front end, I just finished it on the stove instead of the slow cooker. Turns out, it took only 35 minutes cooking time, from start to finish. So, even though I love my slow cooker, I wouldn’t bother for this recipe, as the only ingredients that actually “slow cook” here are the potatoes.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 slices bacon, diced (I like to cut mine with kitchen shears)
- 1 pound italian sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used smoked sausage which added GREAT flavor)
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons white wine (optional, but recommended)
- 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced (unpeeled red potatoes would be lovely, also)
- 4 cups chicken broth (if you have homemade, use it here!)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups chopped, fresh spinach or baby kale (I used spinach)
- 1 cup heavy cream (I used a combo of half-n-half and whole milk)
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and cook bacon and sausage until crisp and fat has been rendered, about 5 minutes. Mmmmm….bacon.
- Remove the bacon and sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside on paper towels to drain.
- Saute the onion in the fat until softened, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about a minute. (Seriously, can we have a moment of silence for the aroma of onion and garlic cooking in bacon fat?)
- Deglaze the pan with the wine, or if you don’t have wine on hand, with a little bit of the chicken broth. Scrape the pan and remove all the delicious brown bits from the bottom.
- Add all the broth, potatoes, pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and meat into the pan and stir. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook until potatoes are soft and pierce easily with a fork, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the spinach or kale and cook until tender, just a few minutes.
- Stir in cream and heat through.
- Serve immediately with a fresh green salad and some crusty bread.
Shop your pantry items for this recipe!
Pacific Foods Organic Free Range Chicken Broth, 8-Ounce Cartons, 24-Pack
Palermo First Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 16 oz.
McCormick Peppercorn Medley Grinder, 0.85 oz
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Printing this.!
This sounds so scrumptious. I think I could eat soup everyday. Wonder how it would work with skim milk or 1%? Might have to sub that in and find out. Probably not nearly as creamy.
I am still working through your book on balance. Life has been unbalanced so I haven’t had much time to work on it but I am on Chapter 6. Baby steps!
Hi Leslie!
I have not tried it with reduced fat milk, but I did make it once with whole milk and it turned out great. I’m not sure why you prefer reduced fat dairy, but consider that reduced fat milk is highly processed and is actually not very good for you. I know it goes against the thinking of the last 20 years, all the science now points to the fact that eating saturated fat from natural sources does not make us fat (it’s actually sugar–I know, it makes me sad, too). Of course, eat the way you want to eat 🙂 but I just wanted to throw that in there so you are not afraid of the fat in the milk or cream. An alternative that I would like to try but may alter the taste is full-fat coconut milk (the canned kind, not the ones in the carton in the refrigerator section).