Soup's on!

If you were to ask someone what their favorite thing about the Olive Garden is they might say the breadsticks. But for me, I LOVE their Zuppa Toscana Soup. The only problem is its not Gluten-Free (or Dairy-Free or Soy-Free). So of course I took that as a challenge and now here is my Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and even Soy-Free version of their soup. It's close enough you wont miss the real thing. Buon Appetito!

PS-You can see a complete list of their dishes and their allergens by clicking HERE. In fact, they have a Gluten-Free menu that you can view on my website page HERE. 
 

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free Almost-like Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup
Adapted by jalene

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 lb spicy or regular gluten-free sausage 
• 2 medium potatoes, cut in half lengthwise and 1/4 inch thick
• 1 small onion, diced
• 6 sliced gluten-free bacon
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 cups kale leaves, diced 
• 2 Tbsp chicken base (gluten-free)
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk 
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

1. Cook ground sausage until brown. Set aside. 
2. Cook onion and bacon. When bacon is crispy, take out of pan and leave onion. 
3. Add garlic to the onion and cook 1 minute or until fragrant. 
4. Add chicken base, water, and potatoes and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are almost tender. 
5. Crumble the bacon and add to soup along with sausage, kale, and milk.
6. Simmer 4 minutes. Soup is best served hot. 

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Tips & Tricks from jalene: 

• If you are feeding this soup to small kids chop the kale super small. It tends to freak them out less  ;) Also, if you would like your kale more tender you can add it in a little bit sooner so it has time to cook more. 
  

• I suggest using organic potatoes and organic kale in this recipe because both of those are on the dirty dozen list! Click on the word to find out more. 

  

• You don't have to put bacon in this soup for it still to taste amazing. So if you don't have it, don't worry.  
  

• I also suggest getting nitrate-free bacon and sausage. This company below has a great Gluten-Free, Nitrate-Free bacon but there are also others.  
  

Alterations: 

Instead of Kale, try Spinach instead! Add the spinach (slightly chopped) 1 minute before the soup is ready to serve. Also try adding 1/2 a red pepper, diced finely in with the potatoes. Tastes amazing!