Zuppa Tuscana Soup

A few weeks back, I saw a delicious-looking recipe for Zuppa Tuscana soup from Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking.  Lindsay has a wonderful and inspiring blog, and so I knew a recipe from her was sure to be good.

While I've never had the Olive Garden version, this Zuppa Tuscana will make an appearance at our place again!  Thanks, Lindsay, for sharing your recipe.

Zuppa Tuscana Soup - Adapted from Lindsay

1/2 lb. Italian turkey sausage
6 medium potatoes, cubed
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 C chicken stock
2 C water
2 C milk
1 C spinach (either fresh or frozen)
4-6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
Pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, for garnish (if desired)

First, cook the bacon -- whether that's in the microwave, oven or stove top.  Drain the grease and set aside.  When cool, crumble.

Meanwhile, brown the Italian turkey sausage in a large stockpot, along with the garlic and onion.  Drain an excess grease.

Then, add the chicken stock, water and potatoes to the sausage.  Simmer for 20ish minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

Add in the milk and spinach.

Mash a couple of times with a potato masher to break apart the potatoes a bit.  Hint -- do this after you add the milk -- helps your hand not get burned by the steam!

Then, simmer for a few minutes, until the spinach is wilted.

Add in pepper, to taste, and the crumbled bacon.

Serve warm, with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

This post is linked to:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Ingredient Spotlight, URS, SoupaPalooza