7-Ingredient Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground hot Italian sausage
  • 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
  • 4 cups good-quality chicken stock
  • 1 (12-ounce) jar DeLallo roasted red peppers, drained and diced
  • 1 bunch kale, roughly chopped (and stems removed, if desired)
  • 1pound DeLallo potato gnocchi
  • 1/2cup heavy cream
  • salt and pepper
  • optional toppings: freshly shaved or grated Parmesan cheese, crumbled bacon

Directions

Add Italian sausage and diced onion to the large stockpot or Dutch oven. Cook over medium-high heat until the sausage is completely browned, stirring occasionally and breaking up the sausage with a spoon. Drain out as much of the excess grease as possible. Then add in the chicken stock and diced roasted red peppers, and bring the mixture to a simmer (still over medium-high heat). Once it reaches a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and add the kale and gnocchi and stir to combine. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, or until the gnocchi are cooked through and tender. Stir in the heavy cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I used about 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper.) Serve warm with desired toppings. You can also refrigerate this in a sealed container for up to 3 days. *I highly recommend using “hot” Italian sausage for this recipe. With so few ingredients, the sausage is actually the ingredient that provides most of the seasoning for this soup. And much of the heat will be dispersed over the multiple servings. So unless you’re really averse to spicy food, take the chance and go hot with this one! (And if you can’t find hot Italian sausage, you can also add in some crushed red chili flakes instead.)