#26 – Zuppa Toscana Soup with Swiss Chard

Living in Canada, I don’t get to eat at The Olive Garden very often. If I’m lucky, our annual family road trip will bring us to the USA and my husband makes every effort to bring me out for dinner at The Olive Garden. I just think he loves the food as much as I do! My husband loves his pasta and they always have the most delicious pasta dishes. And their salads. And SOUPS!! We always leave with our bellies very full.

I have to admit, when I scour the Internet looking for recipes, if one is affiliated with Olive Garden I immediately Pin It. Now if I could only find the Italian salad dressing powder so I could make the Olive Garden salad dressing, I’d be in salad heaven.  In efforts to include more leafy greens in my family’s diet, including swiss chard, I decided to try out this copy cat recipe for Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana Soup with Swiss Chard and was I ever pleased with the delicious results.

Zuppa Toscana Soup with Swiss Chard from The Olive Garden

Zuppa Toscana Soup with Swiss Chard from The Olive Garden

Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana Soup with Swiss Chard

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
12 oz sausages (about 2-3 sausages), casing removed
5 cups water
2 large russet  or yellow potatoes, peeled and cubed into small chunks
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 strips of freshly cooked bacon, chopped
3 cups Swiss chard (center stalks removed and sliced thin like ribbons)
1 cup half and half
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat olive oil on medium heat in a soup pot. Remove the casing from the sausages and drop by chunks into heated pot. Add in onion with the sausages and cook until both are cooked.
  2. Add 5 cups of water, potatoes and minced garlic. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer. Cook until potatoes are done, about 15-20 minutes on low simmer.
  3. Remove the centre of the stalks on the swiss chard and slice the leaves  into thin strips. Add the Swiss chard and bacon to the soup pot. Add 1 cup half and half to the soup pot. Bring the soup to back up to a simmer but do not boil. Add salt and pepper to taste

Diana L.