Zuppa Toscana

This is seriously so good! To me it tasted just like Olive Garden's. I made a few modifications because I'm cheap...I'll tell you what they are below the recipe.

Recipe: Olive Garden Toscana Soup

CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com/
Category: O - Copy Cat Restaurant Recipes
Serves/Makes: 5 Difficulty Level: 3 Ready In: 30-60 minutes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup onions, diced 1/8 inch
1 slice bacon, 1/4-inch diced
1 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 ounce chicken bouillon (2 Tbs)
1 quart water (2 c.--I added 2 more, see below)
2 medium potatoes, cut in half length-wise, then cut in 1/4-inch slices
2 cups cavallo greens (kale can be substituted), cut in half, then sliced into 1/16-inch strips
1 1/2 cup sausage link - spicy, precooked, cut in half length-wise, then cut at an angle into 1/2-inch slices
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Place sausage link onto sheet pan and bake in 300 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until done.

Place onions and bacon into 3 to 4 quart saucepan and cook onions over medium heat until the onions are almost clear. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add chicken bouillon, water and potatoes, bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients then simmer for 5 more minutes and serve.

Okay, so I didn't feel like buying a whole thing of bacon just for one slice. Also, for some reason there was sasuage in the freezer section that was way cheaper than the refirigerated kind...BUT there was no spicy in the freezer kind, so instead I got a pork and bacon kind, and added crushed red pepper flakes that I already had to make it spicy. Also, I just used the whole 1 lb. roll (a little more than it calls for). I also added an extra potato, which let me add a whole extra 2 cups of water, stretching the soup. DELICIOUS!!!!! Oh yeah, I forgot to say that I just cooked the sausage in the skillet and then drained the grease, instead of baking it.

Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

I love chicken cacciatore, but found the other recipe I tried just a little too labor-intensive for my taste...This one is really simple, and still delicious!

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken
1 c. chopped onion,
1 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 (6 oz.) cans of tomato paste
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 bay leaf
1/2 c. chicken broth

Place chicken, onion, mushrooms, salt, and pepper in crock pot. Combine tomato paste, garlic, oregano, basil, celery seed, bay leaf and chicken broth. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 7-9 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Remove bay leaf.

Notes: I used garlic powder instead of minced garlic, and it worked with the same measurement. I didn't have celery seed, so I omitted it, and that worked too. Also, the original recipe called for 1/4 c. chicken broth. I just happened to have 1/2 c. left over from a different recipe so I used it all, and it still was too thick to "pour" over the chicken, and turned out pastier than I expected. I might try using a whole can of chicken broth next time to make it more saucy, though it was tasty the way it turned out this time too. Also, we ate this with thin spaghetti, but I like chicken cacciatore with rice too.