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Creamy, spicy, meaty, hearty, all served with a side of veg is what I call a miracle of a soup. Whether it be the dark months of a blistering winter’s night or a fun al fresco get-together in the floral fragrant springtime, this Spicy Zuppa Toscana has you covered. It’s a soup disguised as an appetizer, but it really has all of the elements of a meal jammed into one pot.
This soup is a one-stop shop when it comes to a one-pot meal. Each step is cooked in the pot for an amazing flavor that keeps on developing. Zuppa Toscana soup is famously served at an Italian chain, Olive Garden, but this homemade spicy version hits it out of the park with flavor.
Start by rendering the bacon in the pot. You’ll want to do it on a low heat, which pulls the fat out of the bacon. Too high of a heat, and you get burnt bacon with huge regions of uncooked fat.
Once the bacon is cooked, remove it from the pot and add in the sausage to cook and do its thing. I was able to find a package of ground spicy Italian sausage, but if you can’t find that in your store, you can easily substitute by buying Italian sausages and removing the ground meat from the casing.
When the sausage is browned, remove that from the pot and add the onions to saute until fragrant and soft. Follow by adding the minced garlic and chili flakes. Sauteing the chili flakes in fat will open up the dry spice and make for a more true, intense flavor and heat.
Add in the chicken stock, water, and prepped potatoes. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, cooking until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork.
Now it’s time for the finishing touches. Add in the cream, spinach, cooked, and cooked sausage. Bring everything to a simmer to combine all of the flavors.
Season with salt and pepper at the end, as the bacon and sausage are already salty, and adding salt too early may make the soup’s saltiness way too high.
Garnish with the crispy bacon and, honestly, you have yourself a masterpiece of a soup.
The potatoes and spinach add a good body to the soup, while the sausage and bacon give the soup a great savory, umami flavor. Spicy Zuppa Toscana is creamy without being a fondue pot’s worth of dairy. It’s just enough cream to cut through the meatiness and the spiciness.
Have it as a lunch with a side of bread or make it a starter to a great Sunday lasagna supper, either way, you’ll have a soup in your arsenal that can make a ho-hum ingredients become center-stage jewels.
Spicy Zuppa Toscana
Allergens: Milk
Ingredients
- 6 ounces bacon, cut into small pieces
- 1 lb spicy Italian sausage, removed from the casing
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely crushed
- 1 to 2 teaspoons crushed chili flakes
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 4 cups water
- 5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/4-inch thick pieces
- 4 cups spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- In a large saucepan, render bacon until crispy, remove from the pot. Remove the excess oil, keeping 1 tablespoon of oil in the pot.
- Cook sausage, breaking up the sausage as you cook it, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pot and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Sauté onions in remaining fat, until soft and slightly golden. Add in the garlic and chili flakes, stirring until fragrant.
- Add stock, water, and potatoes. Bring to a boil reduce to a simmer, cooking for 14 to 16 minutes until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork.
- Add spinach, cooked sausage, and heavy cream and bring everything back to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with bacon.
Recipe adapted from Natasha's Kitchen.
