Zuppa Tuscana

This soup promised to be a copy-cat of the Olive Garden soup that I have had on many occasions. Even better, it was a crock-pot recipe so I knew it would be relatively easy. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations.

 

Here is the original recipe:
http://getcrocked.com/2011/10/23/crock-pot-zuppa-toscana-copycat/

Get Crocked's Zuppa Tocana

I was pretty excited about it when I got started. I got fancy sausage from a local grocery story which has amazing meat (and baked goods, but that's for another post). As soon as I started cooking I knew there would be a problem. Her recipe lacks direction. And I HATE when you have a recipe with an ingredient (i.e. bacon) but then it doesn't tell you about it in the steps. It makes me really mad.

My Zuppa Tocana

I followed her directions pretty closely. I used kale and boxed chicken broth instead of canned. I also reduced the cream by half and doubled the kale. I know that you are probably thinking that this is why it wasn't as good but I promise it is not. The broth was flavorless. The whole dish tasted like sausage and it wasn't enough dimension for me. Also, it needed to cook for longer than she recommended. Finally, I would recommend that you cook the onions and garlic BEFORE adding them to the crock-pot. I know this adds an extra step but that would really help with the flavor. I may try it one more time but I will probably look up another recipe and try to combine the two.
I wish every recipe could be as good as the previous two. I thought I was on a roll!
Let me know if you try it!