Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

I dont know how many of you have had this soup at Olive Garden but Darren and I love it. We get this instead of the salad. It is sooo tasty. I use more potatoes, sausage and bacon. It just adds more flavor. Plus Darren likes it more meaty and chunky. Dont use turkey bacon, it really takes away from the flavor. And try to cut the fat off the bacon after you cook it. It gets kind of rubbery. If you want you can add 1/2 t. fennel and I would use and Italian sausage, I think I use Isernios. And I didnt know what chicken base was, I was using chicken broth but finally figured out it was chicken bouillion cubes and it adds way more flavor than chicken broth. You dont really need 12 links, I think those are small ones. I just add as much as I think looks good. And use a big pot, it makes alot of soup. Serve with a salad and some nummy bread and you will get rave reviews.

1 1/2 C. spicy sausage links -- 12
2 medium potatoes, cut in half lengthwise, and then cut into 1/4" slices
3/4 C. onions, diced
6 slices bacon
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 C. kale leaves, but in half, then sliced
2 T. chicken base
1 qt. water
1/3 C. heavy whipping cream

Methods/steps
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place sausage links onto a sheet pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until done; cut in half length-wise, then cut at an angle into 1/2 inch slices.

Place onions and bacon in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Remove bacon and crumble. Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1-minute. Add chicken base, water, and potatoes, simmer 15 minutes. Add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve.