Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana

So are you ready? I mostly am. Though I still have some wrapping {kids gifts} and baking to do. I have been cooking up a storm this past week. Four catering jobs between Friday the 13th and Friday the 20th, feeding a total of 230 people… all by my lonesome. Except I do happen to have the most awesome {free} delivery help available thanks to my dad. My only new recipe I fixed {that is blog-worthy and I’ll post sometime between Christmas and the New Year} are individual puff pastry quiches. I hear they were a hit!

Besides that, I was catering some of my favorites: spaghetti with Crock Pot Bolognese Sauce, The World’s Best Garlic Bread, Spinach Strawberry Salad and White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecakes… to mention a few.

This soup I’m sharing today was our dinner last night that I made for us and our friends the Mullins. Despite containing copious amounts of kale, everyone seemed to love it. The original recipe {which is a copycat version of Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana} contained cooked spinach, which my husband will not do. I actually changed this recipe {which I found at Damn Delicious} quite a bit. I added tomatoes. I turned it into a Crock Pot recipe so I could go about the business of Christmas wrapping and house straightening. And I swapped out the heavy cream for half and half {plus reduced the amount quite a bit}.

The best part of this soup is now the leftovers we can enjoy, when we are not traveling around to all our Christmas celebrations. So Merry Christmas my wonderful readers! Thanks so much for reading my posts, sharing and cooking my recipes. You are helping turn this little hobby of mine into a legitimate job for me and I truly appreciate it!!! See you in 2014…

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Crock Pot Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients

• 2 qts. vegetable stock
• 1 large can 26 oz. diced tomatoes, drained
• 3 T. olive oil divided
• 1 onion diced
• 2 lbs. Italian bulk sausage
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. smoked paprika
• 1 t. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 t. cracked black pepper
• 1 bag cut and washed kale {I used Glory Foods brand}
• 6 c. small potatoes {I used a mix of red-skinned and Yukon Golds}
• 1/2 c. half and half

Instructions

• Turn a {very large} Crock Pot to low setting. Pour in 1 quart {4 cups} of the vegetable stock and the drained tomatoes.
• Wash the potatoes, slice them thin and then halve them. Set aside in a large bowl.
• Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to a stock pot and heat to medium. Add the onion and saute for about 7 minutes, until beginning to soften. Add the sausage and cook until barely any pink is left. Add the salt, paprika, Italian seasoning and pepper and stir well to combine. Add the wine and allow to simmer for about 1 minute.
• Add the fresh kale, about 1/3 at a time, and stir until cooked down and wilted... only about 5 - 6 minutes total. Add the entire pot of ingredients to your Crock Pot. Stir well to combine.
• Return the stock pot to medium heat and add the remaining 2 T. of olive oil. Add the potatoes and cook until they begin to brown a bit. Add some of the remaining 4 cups of vegetable stock if the potatoes begin to stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Add the potatoes and the remaining vegetable stock to the Crock Pot. Cover and cook on low, 5 - 6 hours.
• Just before serving the soup, stir in the half and half. Stir well to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary with salt and pepper.

Notes

Adapted from Damn Delicious