Sunday, January 8, 2012

Italian Chicken Sausage Vegetable Soup


I love Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup, so I decided to play in the kitchen to find something similar on my own and this is what I came up with.  It's no where close to Olive Garden's great soup, but I have come up with a BRIDE pleaser.  She loves it and it is a great way for us to get our veggies in!


5 Member’s Mark Italian Chicken Sausages

---Note--- Quarter sausages lengthwise then dice.
2 medium onions, (chopped)
2 cups  fresh mushroom slices (rough chop half of them)
¼ cup olive oil
Baby Carrots 30 medium (chopped in thirds)
3-4 cups or 1lb Fresh Kale (stems removed, chopped)
3 long stalks Celery (diced)
1 qt. chicken broth- 99% fat free
Water, tap, 2-3 cups
1 tsp. each of Dried Oregano and Thyme
2 tsp. dried Basil
2 cans Cannellini beans (rinsed and drained)
2 cans Diced Tomatoes (rinsed and drained)
2 medium russet potatoes- peeled and diced

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and Pepper to taste.


Directions: 
In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, add oil over medium high heat.  Add onions, celery, carrots, garlic, mushrooms and thyme.  Cook until softened (about 5-10 minutes) stirring often. 

Add everything else and bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to simmer.  Simmer for a couple hours or longer.  Before serving remove chunks of potato to a bowl and mash.  Return to the pot and stir (this gives a creamy color to the broth).  Serve topped with parmesan cheese and croutons.

Serves eight and each bowl is about 350 calories.

ENJOY!

6 comments:

spiceblogger said...

:D
Glad your Bride liked it!
I loooove veggie soup, and don't make it nearly enough. I'll have to try out your recipe!

--shelley

M. J. Vitelli said...

Looks wonderful! Windy and snowy here..I think soup is on the agenda! Thanks for sharing.

Crunchy Creamy Sweet said...

It's been so cold in the Midwest lately - we are craving some good soup. Yours looks very comforting and filling. Following you guys!

Amy said...

Looks wonderful--perfect for this cold snap we're having!

Anonymous said...

The soup was great Richard I did add 1 or 2 cans of beer to the soup when I had to boil it a little while longer when the carrots and potatoes weren't quite soft enough. I think the yeast from the beer gives it a good flavor. My mother-in-law is Spanish and she boils her rice in beer instead of water which gives it a good flavor./Sheri Sandoval

Richard said...

That's funny Sheri. I sometimes add beer and/or wine to what I'm cooking if it starts to "dry out" before I'm ready for it to do so! My grandmother told me good cooks cook with wine, and sometimes they use it in the cooking too.