Not-Really-Olive-Garden's Zuppa Toscana

Ours, like the original recipe for this chain’s favorite, is a sausage, potato, and kale soup. But we’ve made a couple of changes that make the soup, well, better. First, almost all copycat recipes for this soup call for pork sausage and then ask you to drain off the rendered fat. Doing so is a pain! And even if you drain off the fat, more comes out under pressure. So we substituted chicken sausage — which means you don’t have to drain the pot and the soup doesn’t get an oil slick. Even better, because we’ve used a lower-fat sausage, we can then use cream (rather than half-and-half, as called for in the original) to make more satisfying bowlfuls. The original also calls for regular kale but we feel baby kale is easier (because it doesn’t need to be stemmed) and sweeter (so it tastes better alongside the cream).

Cuisine

American, Modern

Course

Soup

Difficulty

Medium

Duration

30-60 min

Cooking Technique

Pressure Cook, Sauté

Keywords

30-60 min, 6 servings, american, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, chicken broth, contributed, cook 35 min, heavy cream, instant pot soup recipe, large russet or baking potatoes, large yellow or white onion, loosely packed, medium, minced, modern, olive oil, prep 7 min, pressure cook, red pepper flakes, sauté, soup, sweet or mild italian chicken sausage, table salt, zuppa toscana

Prep Time

7 min

Cook Time

35 min

Servings

6 servings

Ingredients

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. sweet or mild Italian chicken sausage
1 large yellow or white onion, chopped
6 cups chicken broth
3 large russet or baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tsp. fresh oregano, minced
1 tsp. table salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 cups loosely packed baby kale mix, chopped
1 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Press Sauté and set to Medium/Normal and set the time for 10 minutes.
Warm the oil in the insert set in a 5-, 6-, or 8-quart Instant Pot. Crumble in the sausage meat and cook, stirring often to break up any clumps, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
Add the onion and continue cooking, stirring more frequently, until the onion softens, about 3 minutes. Pour in the broth and scrape up any browned bits on the pot’s bottom.
Stir in the potatoes, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes. Turn off the heat and lock the lid on the pot.
For the Max Model: Set the pot to Pressure Cook on Max for 10 minutes.

For all other Instant Pots: Set the pot to Pressure Cook/Manual on High for 12 minutes.

For the Slow-Cook Function: Set the pot to Slow Cook on High for 3 hours.
When the pot has finished cooking under pressure, use the quick- release method to bring the pressure back to normal. Whichever cooking method you’ve used, unlatch the lid and open the cooker.
Press Sauté and set to Medium/Normal for 5 minutes.
As the soup comes to a simmer, stir in the baby kale and cream. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes to wilt the kale completely and nix the taste of raw cream. Turn off the heat and set the pot aside for 2 to 3 minutes before serving warm.

Notes

Beyond
• Use a half-and-half combo of sweet and spicy chicken sausage.
• Drizzle servings with olive oil.
• And top them with finely grated Pecorino Romano.
Other Pots
• For a 3-quart Instant Pot, you must halve all of the ingredient amounts.
• For a 10-quart Instant Pot, you must increase all of the ingredient amounts by 50 percent or you can even double them.