Zuppa Toscana - My Style

This recipe was found online, posted by a person who had a friend who worked at Olive Garden.  I changed a few things, but it is mostly the same. Lately I have been experimenting with using a cast-iron Dutch oven since cast-iron flavor is amazing. It has turned out very well, but if you choose to use cast-iron remember it heats up slowly and stays hot longer. My advice is this: back off the heat some and watch your food because it's easy to burn! 

Ingredients:

• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5-6 potatoes, thinly sliced
• 3-4 leafs of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 lb. ground Italian sausage
• 4-5 strips of bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces (or more, if desired)
• 10 cups water
• 5 cubes chicken bouillon
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• red pepper flakes*
• olive oil*
• salt and pepper

 
Instructions:
tip: if you complete steps 1-4 or 5 before hand then leave it to simmer, it can sit there pretty much all day. if the liquid gets low, just add 2 cups water and one cube bouillon as needed then finish the rest of the steps when you're ready. 

     0.5 In a skillet, brown Italian sausage, seasoning with red pepper flakes.  This step can be preformed before step 1, drained and refrigerated or before step 7.  The choice is yours..................

1. In a large pot, add just enough olive oil to barely coat the bottom and place over medium-high heat.*
2. When the pot becomes hot, place bacon in pot and cook until fairly crispy but not totally done, stir frequently.
3. Add in onions to the bacon and saute until softened, adding a little salt.  Add garlic and continue for another minute or so. By this time the bacon should be done to a crispness which you enjoy, so try to time it carefully.
4. Once the onion has softened, add the water and bouillon.
5. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When the soup reaches a boil, drop the heat to medium-low and add in the sliced potatoes. Cook until soft, about 30 minutes.
6. Add in the heavy whipping cream, stir and heat thoroughly.
7. Add the ground sausage and kale, season with salt and pepper, simmer on low heat until sausage and kale are warm or you are ready to serve.
8. Serve and eat!

 tip: also good adding cheese on top as i did here

* = indicates an optional ingredient or step