With it being snowy and 33 degrees today here in Denver, I knew that soup was going to be a must! And I am drooling over this Zuppa Toscana! I strayed from the traditional recipe by using gnocchi instead of potatoes and topping the soup with chopped sundried tomatoes instead of bacon.
INGREDIENTS
~Serves 4~
-1/2 white onion
-1/2 red bell pepper (optional - to add color)
-***1lb Italian sausage (casings removed)
-2-3 cloves grated garlic
-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
-1/2 teaspoon mild Italian seasoning
-1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
-32oz low sodium chicken broth
-4 cups kale
-1/2 cup skim milk
-1lb potato gnocchi
-Sundried tomatoes
-Parmesan
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Meanwhile, dice the onion and red bell pepper. Add the onion and bell pepper to the oil, season with salt and pepper, and saute until onion is translucent.
2. Add the Italian sausage to the pot. Crumble and saute until cooked through. Toward the end of the cooking process, drain the grease from the pot.
3. Next, add the garlic, oregano, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper to the pot. Cook for about a minute before adding the chicken broth, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bring to boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes. While soup simmers, chop the kale into bite-sized pieces. Add the kale to the soup, and then simmer for another 5 minutes.
4. While soup simmers, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add 1/4 of the gnocchi and cook according to package directions. ***NOTE: I make 1 serving of gnocchi at a time and mix it into the soup as I eat it. If you put all of the gnocchi in at once and then reheat it later, the gnocchi absorbs a lot of the broth and become really mushy.
5. Finally, add the skim milk to the soup pot. Ladle soup into a bowl, stir in the cooked gnocchi, and top with chopped sundried tomatoes and grated Parmesan cheese.
***MM Option: To make this meal meatless, leave out the Italian sausage. You can substitute in anything you want! I would recommend strips of roasted bell pepper, white beans, cauliflower, or whatever sounds good to you!