Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp flour
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp pepper
3 large potatoes, peeled, quartered and sliced
1 lb Italian sausage (I use the sweet)
3 or 4 slices of cooked bacon, diced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 cups chopped spinach or kale
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Melt the butter over medium - high heat and saute the onion until translucent (about 8 - 10 min). Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add the flour and cook 1 minute. Gradually add the chicken stock while continuously stirring to incorporate the flour. Add the water, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Add the potatoes and continue to cook over medium high heat.

In the meantime, heat a skillet over medium high heat. Remove the sausage from the casing and cook until sausage is cooked through. As you are stirring the sausage, make sure that it ends up in crumbles. Another hint to use to keep the sausage from burning before cooking all the way through is to add some water to the pan and allow for it to boil off. By the time that the liquid is gone, the sausage will have a little bit of time to brown. Once done, drain.

Add the sausage and bacon to the soup once the potatoes are just about done. Turn the heat to medium low. Add the spinach or kale and cook for 3 minutes until the spinach or kale is good and tender. Add the whipping cream and remove from the heat. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.