SLOW COOKER ZUPPA TOSCANA

Now that the weather will be slowly cooling down, it’s time to break out your slow cooker! Maybe you’re like me and use yours year round, (like for my slow cooker honey balsamic pulled pork).  When the weather gets cooler, I immediately want some comfort food, soups in particular!  My husband’s favorite soup is Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana, so naturally I wanted to find a way to have it at home (for way less money) 🙂

This soup has all the great flavors of the Olive Garden soup, but making at home is much more convenient, and I think it tastes way better!  If you’ve never had this soup… it’s a creamy soup with tender potatoes, spicy Italian sausage and healthy kale.
My original recipe for this was to make it on the stovetop, but then I thought about it, and I just love slow cooker soups so much, I knew I had to make this one too!

Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb ground Hot Italian sausage
• 1 bag Simply Potatoes, diced potatoes and onions
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 32 oz chicken stock
• 1/2 bunch kale, de-stemmed and torn into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp flour
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Pinch of red pepper flakes, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat large saute pan over medium high heat and brown sausage.
2. Add minced garlic and stir to combine.
3. Drain off the grease and then add sausage and garlic to the bottom of slow cooker.
4. Add bag of diced potatoes and onion, cover with chicken stock and water (if necessary) to completely cover potatoes and sausage.
5. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or HIGH for 3-4 (potatoes should be soft)
6. BEFORE SERVING :
7. Whisk together heavy cream and flour until well mixed. Pour into slow cooker, add kale and stir to combine.
8. Cover and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes until soup has thickened slightly.
9. Taste, season according to your tastes, and serve.

NOTES
** if desired, top soup with slices of crumbled peppered bacon
** goes great with a nice crusty bread

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