Zuppa Toscana

Shopping List
1 lb ground sausage (don't get sausages shaped like sausages, they just make more work for you in this recipe. Also, I would buy mild, sweet, or spicy italian sausage - spicy if you like spicy foods, either mild or sweet if you don't)
3 large red potatoes (or 6 smaller potatoes - red potatoes have red skin and are sometimes called russet potatoes, their skin is smoother than most brown potatoes and they usually aren't peeled when used in recipes)
1 large onion (either yellow or white)
3 cloves garlic (You only need to buy one bulb of garlic as each bulb has many cloves. And yes, you can use 1 T. garlic powder instead if you prefer, but fresh garlic tastes better)
8 cups chicken broth (about two big boxes or 6 cans)
2 cups heavy whipping cream (about a pint)
1 bunch kale (green, leafy vegetable, usually located near fresh parsley and cilantro in the produce section)
2 cups grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 stick butter (1/2 cup, and yes, use real butter; margarine doesn't cut it)
1 loaf crusty bread  for serving with the finished soup

Start about 60 minutes before you want to eat

Wash potatoes and cut into medium-sized squares. Make them all about the same size so they will all take about the same amount of time to cook.

Cut onion into squares. The easiest way to do this is to cut off the top and the bottom of the onion, then cut it in half longways (from top to bottom). Peel off the top two layers of the onion (or whatever layers are dry and darker in color), put each cut side down, the cut into slices like an apple. Then you can cut those slices into chunks.

Mince garlic. Break off three cloves of garlic from the bulb. Cut off the bottom of each clove (don't peel off the papery part yet). Put each clove on it's side on a cutting board and get a wide knife. Put the knife flat on top of one of the cloves, then bang it with your palm. This should partially crush the clove, making it easy to pull off the papery part. Once you've removed the papery part, cut the cloves into small pieces.

Leave your potatoes, onion, and garlic on the counter. Get out a large dinner plate and line it with 2 paper towels, then set it aside. Place your sausage in a large soup pot (that has a lid - you'll need the lid later) over medium heat (if you use high heat, you'll burn the sausage; if you use low, it will take forever to cook). As it's cooking, break it up and move it around the bottom of the pan with a fork. Once it's all brown and you can't see anymore pink, empty your sausage onto the paper towels (if you prefer you can drain the grease another way, I just find this way easiest). Leave the sausage on the paper towelled plate.

Put the pot you cooked the sausage in back on the stove on the hot burner (which should still be turned on). Dump your chicken broth into the pot, followed by the potatoes, onion, and garlic. Add the red pepper flakes as well (if you don't like anything even remotely spicy, you can leave this out). Put the lid on the pot and let it cook over medium-high heat. Set your timer for 20 minutes.

While your soup is cooking, rinse your kale, then shake the water off. Cut off the tough stems of each leaf, then cut the leaves roughly into squares. It doesn't have to look pretty, your goal here is to have each piece be small enough that you don't look like you have a bucket of seaweed hanging from your mouth when you eat.

When your timer goes off, check and make sure your potatoes are cooked. The best way to do this is to scoop one or two of the larger pieces up with a large spoon, put them on the inside of your lid, and see if you can easily cut them in half with the spoon. If you can, they are cooked. If you can't, cook them for another five minutes and check again (cooking time will vary depending on how big your potato chunks are).

Once your potatoes are cooked, turn off the burner, but leave the pot on it. Add your cooked sausage. Dump in your kale, stir it into the soup, and let it sit for a few minutes. It should turn a darker green, but not get slimy (kale cooks super quickly, which is why we waited to put it in). Dump in your stick of butter and stir until melted (don't stir really hard - you will crush the potato chunks). Dump in the cream, parmesan cheese, and stir (gently) until combined. Taste it and see if you think it needs salt and/or pepper. If needed, add a little bit of either at a time (MUCH easier to put more in than to take some out, so add it slowly. A good trick to use for this part is to dump it in your palm first so you see how much you're using instead of just dumping it in the pot).

Serve it, you're done :) And seriously, this is even better than the zuppa toscano at the Olive Garden :)