Zuppa Toscana (ala Olive Garden)

• 1 pound hot sausage
• 1-1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 Tb garlic, minced
• 5 cans chicken broth
• 6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 c heavy cream
• 1/4 bunch kale

Cook sausage and red pepper flakes in a large soup pot. Drain excess fat and remove sausage from pan. Using the same pan, cook bacon. Remove bacon, leaving a few Tb of drippings in the pan. Cook onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Add broth and potatoes and cook for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat and add cream, sausage, and bacon to the pot. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in kale just before serving.

Notes: I used both the hot sausage and the red pepper flakes and it was almost too much heat. Next time I'll either use regular sausage and red pepper flakes, or hot sausage and no red pepper flakes. Otherwise, this soup was tasty!

(Dinner Inspiration)