Rich, creamy, and vibrant! This soup is a blast of flavour and screams of sunshine. Perfect for spring and cool summer days. This is an adapted version of a recipe from Genius Kitchen, where I first discovered this soup.
As I’m sure you know by now, I’m all about quality ingredients. I like to use homemade broth for all my soups and I typically stick to my locally sourced ingredients. We order all of our meat from a small farm in Saskatchewan, where you can get grass-fed, pastured, and zero-nitrate options, so I like to use their bacon and Italian sausage for this. With regards to stock, store-bought has very little dimension and often leaves my soup lackluster, so having some homemade broth on-hand is always a good idea. I always keep some in my freezer, for a rainy day! If you end up using store-bought broth, simmering a parmesan rind with the potatoes can help richen soup’s flavours, but don’t forget to discard it once the potatoes are done! Also, allowing the soup to sit for about 20 minutes before serving will help it soak up and combine all the different flavours. I do this either way!
Lastly, I like to make big batches of soup to have in the fridge for the days to come, so this recipe will leave you with lots of soup, and it’ll only get better with time!
Tuscan Soup
Ingredients
- 8 Cups of Homemade Soup Stock, or quality store bought
- 1 lb Italian Sausage, mild or hot, casings removed if not already
- 6 Slices of Bacon, cooked and roughly chopped
- 2 Large Russet Potatoes, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces
- 2 Cups Kale or Swiss Chard, roughly chopped
- 1 Large Yellow Onion, diced
- 3-5 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 2-3 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 2 Tbsp Flour
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large stockpot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the sausage to the pot and allow it to brown, breaking it up into small bite-sized pieces if you haven’t already. Once the meat is golden (about 10 minutes), add the onions and lower the heat to medium. Allow the onions to cook for a few minutes, or until slightly transparent. Then, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Allow the mixture to cook, stirring occasionally, for a few more minutes or until fragrant and the onions have softened.
- Add the broth to the pot and bring it to a simmer. While waiting, in a small bowl, combine the 2 tbsps of flour with just enough broth to make a paste (you can either reserve some for this step or take it directly from the pot), add it to the soup, and stir until combined. Once simmering, add the potatoes to the pot, salt and pepper to taste, and cover the pot just long enough to bring it back to simmer. Then, remove the top and let the soup simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.
- Once the potatoes are tender, taste the soup once more and adjust the flavouring one more time if necessary. Remove the soup from the heat and mix in the chopped greens and bacon. Continue mixing while you slowly pour the heavy cream into the soup. Make sure the soup is no longer simmering when you do this, or the cream will curdle!
- Once all ingredients are combined, I recommend leaving the pot off the heat and covered for approximately 20 minutes. This will allow the flavours to combine and richen before serving.
- Enjoy!
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