Zuppa Toscana

By -


So, this was surprisingly good. I give this an 8, and it makes enough to feed about 10-12 adults. I found the recipe on carlsbadcravings.com, and I put my changes below in bold:

  • 6 slices bacon uncooked
  • 1 pound bulk/ground spicy Italian sausage
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 carrots, chopped (approx. 1 ½ cups) We did more than this, probably 2 – 2 1/2 cups
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped (approx. 1 ½ cups) We probably did 2 cups
  • 4-6 garlic cloves, minced We did 7-8 cloves
  • 1/3 cup flour I only used a few Tbs.
  • 1 1/2 pounds/3 medium russet potatoes chopped into bite size cubes
  • 1 15 oz. can cannellini beans rinsed and rained We doubled this
  • 1 15 oz. can can sweet corn rinsed and drained
  • 1 15 oz. can creamed corn
  • 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 3 cups milk
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch I left this out
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 bay leaves I forgot to add these
  • 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon We did Better than Bouillon
  • 1 tsp EACH dried parsley, salt
  • 1/2 tsp EACH dried basil, dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp EACH dried thyme, pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste (optional if you like heat) I did this
Add later:
  • 2-3 cups half and half We did closer to 3 cups
  • 4 cups loosely packed fresh chopped spinach or kale We did 5 cups, and it could easily do with more
Recipe and instructions can be found at link below:
https://carlsbadcravings.com/olive-garden-zuppa-toscana-recipe/
We did ours in a big Dutch oven. So, essentially, you cook the bacon, take it out, and then saute your vegetables. Then, you add the sausage and cook until it’s browned. Add the flour, and then the chicken broth, milk, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, and boil until the potatoes are soft. Then, you add the half and half and spinach right before servings, as well as the bacon that you have cut into small pieces. Also, once you bring it to a boil, stir it often or it burns to the bottom of the pan.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sourdough, version 4, aka version Mel

By -
Image
This is my personal favorite.—it is a combination of the sourdough recipe from Nancy Beykirch with the Tartine method. It is sour but the texture is also great. Leaven: 1/2 cup sourdough starter 1/2 cup water 2/3 cups bread flour Combine ingredients and let sit 12 hours. Then, combine the leaven (mine was about 290 grams) 860 grams white flour 100 grams wheat flour 700 grams water 22 grams salt You mix this then let it sit for 40 minutes. Then, you put it in a big bowl and let it rise for 5 hours. For the first 2-3 hours, turn in every 30 minutes where you pull the dough to the opposite side, rotate the bowl by 4ths, do the same thing. Then, you put it on a floured surface. This dough is sticky, so you might need a good deal of flour. divide and shape into 2 loaves, then let sit 30 minutes. Then, kind of reshape them and put them in a pot. Let them rise for 3 hours. Then, score them. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, then lid off the dutch oven for the final 20 minutes.
Read more

Grandma Goodsell's Whole Wheat Bread

By -
Image
  So, my Grandma Goodsell is the one who instilled a love of bread making in me. I owe a lot to her guidance when I was a kid. We finally tracked down her recipe after we thought it was lost all those years ago, and I made it yesterday. I give it a 9, but that’s probably a lot of nostalgia. Either way, it is a very, very solid bread recipe. I put my changes below in bold. Grandma Goodsell's Whole Wheat Bread Mix 2 ½ T yeast and 1 T sugar in 1 C water, and let set for 10 minutes. I used instant yeast, so I decreased this to 5 tsp. of yeast 3 C milk 2 C water ½ C honey ½ C shortening 2 T salt 2 T molasses 5 ½ C whole wheat flour 7 ½ C white flour I also added 2 heaping spoonfuls of wheat gluten Combine milk, honey, shortening, salt, and molasses in a saucepan and heat until shortening melts. Stir in 2 Cups cold water and combine with yeast mixture. Pour mixture into mixing bowl and add flours one cup at a time alternating between white and wheat (1 C white, 1 C wheat, 1 C white, ...
Read more

Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

By -
Image
Oh, how I love me a pressure cooker that cuts down on dishes and produces the exact same results. This is good because it's pasta and meatballs. I would have to really be coerced to make it any other way again because this is just SO easy. My one complaint is that it was very rich in tomato flavor because it calls for twice as much sauce as when I make it the traditional way. I think I might increase the water and use less sauce next time. Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey I just did my own meatballs already premade 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 cloves garlic, finely minced) I just did my own meatballs already premade Salt and pepper 16 ounces uncooked spaghetti noodles (see note) I think our spaghetti is almost 18 oz 1 teaspoon dried basil I used fresh 40 ounces jarred spaghetti/marinara sauce (see note) I did 2 Trader Joe's vodka sauces that are 25 oz. each 3 1/2 cups water Freshly grated Parmesan and ...
Read more