Lo carb Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana?
 

I love that there have been so many soup recipes posted lately! I was wondering if anyone had a lo carb recipe to the Zuppa Toscana that Olive Garden serves? I found a recipe on the internet and it looks as though everything is legal minus the potatoes. What would you use instead of the potatoes? By the way, here is the recipe I found.

1 lb. Italian sausage
2 large russet baking potatoes (what would I use here?)
1 large onion (to save on carbs could either leave out or use less)
1/2 can Oscar Meyer bacon bits
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups kale or swiss chard, chopped
2 cans chicken broth
1 quart water
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Cook sausage in a 300 F oven for appoximately 30 minutes. Drain sausages on paper towels and cut into slices. Place onions, potatoes, chicken broth, water, garlic in pot, and cook on medium heat until potatoes are tender. Add the sausage and bacon. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn to low heat. Add kale (or swiss chard) and cream. Heat through and serve.


Want to make this recipe this weekend. Looks good.

Jen

I make this for myself on occasion. I love it. I use cauliflower for the potato.

Looks great, but without the potatoes and using cauliflower instead I don't think I'd use the "quart" of water. I think the potatoes sucked all that water up, especially since you already have chicken broth. Evil potatoes! :rofl:

Try diced turnips or rutabaga.

I've also used the cauliflower stems, cubed, as an acceptable substitute for potato - makes an awesome clam chowder! I just cube it up and nuke it til tender and then add it to the recipe.

Char

fI use Celery root for potatoes. I think they have the same taste as potatoes.

I have made a version of that recipe also. I have used cauliflower for the potato and spinach for the kale .. hot Italian sausage and some crumbled bacon It is very good. nice on a cold fall day

This soup is so easy and good. A little spicy, so it you don't like the heat, don't add the red pepper flakes, and use sweet sausage.


Tuscano Soup

3 italian sausage links, hot or sweet
1 medium diced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic, or 2 chopped garlic cloves
3 cups chicken broth
3/4 package frozen spinach
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes

Take the sausage out of it's casing and crumble in a pan with diced onion and minced garlic. Cook until sausage is brown and done.

Put chicken broth, frozen spinach, browned sausage mixture, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes in a pot and simmer for 30 minutes.

After simmer time, add the heavy cream and simmer for another 10 minutes, or until everything is nice and hot.

Serve and enjoy.

This is the one I use and DH says it BETTER than Olive Gardens.

Beeb, I had to let you know that I came across the version of your Tuscano Soup recipe on LindaSue's site and I made it the other day. It was soooo yummy! :up: My DH and I just finished it up yesterday for lunch, and I want to thank you for a very delicious and easy to make soup that has a taste that's out of this world!

My DH is wild about that recipe too! I make it especially for him and he eats the whole pot! Lol!

You could also use onion powder to sub for some of the onion or all of it

My DD loves this and raves about it (Olive Garden's that is) so now it's nice that I can make a pot of it and we can all enjoy it.

I am going to try this over the weekend. I LOVE :love: this soup at Olive Garden!!!

Here's my version of the soup....
 

Low Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup

Serves: 10
Prep. Time: 0:35

1 lb. spicy Italian sausage - crumbled
1/2 lb. smoked bacon - chopped
1 qt. water
(2) 14.5 oz. cans (about 3 2/3 cups) chicken broth
2 chayote squash, peeled, cubed
2 c. cauliflower fresh,
2 c. fresh kale, chopped
2 garlic cloves - peeled, crushed
1 med. onion - peeled, chopped
1-cup heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper - to taste



-In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you fry it; drain, set aside.
-In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown bacon; drain, set aside.
Sauté onion and garlic and set aside.

-Place water, broth, veggies, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until veggies are tender.
-Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes.
-Add cream to pot; season with salt and pepper; heat through.
arb

Thanks Barbo! I went out last night to get the ingredients to make the soup this weekend. But what is chayote squash? What does it look like?

Chayote Squash
 

I think Linda Sue has pictures of it and posted here a few months ago.

It's like a large pear shape, but it is light green and a little wrinkled.
After peeling, it is white and then we slice it like apples and make spicy
apples slices using Splenda or other sugar subs, vanilla and cinnamon,
and cook it until tender. Since it's rather tasteless so when you put into
soups, it can be your 'potato' chunks. It's very good. I grated it and
added grated onion, salt and pepper an egg and a bit of Carbalose flour,
dash of baking powder and make "potato pancakes' and fried them
in oil. They cost between .99 each to about $1.29 each.

I went ahead and made the soup with what I had on hand and this is what I came up with. I love it!!!

Low Carb Turkey Zuppa Tuscano Soup

1 lb. Italian turkey sausage, mild
1 medium diced onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
½ cup chicken broth
3 cups water

6 cups of kale leaves (pulled off the stems)

8 oz. cauliflower (steamed)
½ cup heavy cream
Dash of Salt and red pepper flakes to taste


Crumble sausage in pot with diced onion and minced garlic. Cook until sausage is brown and done.

Put chicken broth, water, cauliflower, kale, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes in a pot and simmer for 30 minutes (or until you think it’s finished).

After simmer time, add the heavy cream and simmer for another 10 minutes, or until everything is nice and hot.

I posted my results in my journal so I figured I needed to paste them here too...

I made this once a long time ago and it is just awesome!!! Enjoy!

YES!!! It was so good but I do think I over did on the garlic. Will probably only go with the 1 teaspoon next time.

Speaking of Olive Garden, I use to always love their Minestrone soup but couldnt eat it after I went LC. Anyway, I try to make some myself last weekend and I tell you it tasted very much like Olive Garden's. I just left out the beans and potatoes. I used vegetable broth and a can of puree'd tomoates. I sauteed some onion, adding celery, green beans, shredded carrots, zuccinni, squash and a little salt and pepper. The whole family loved it and it really hit the spot since it was especially cold and rainy last week. :clap:

Hmmm! That sounds good too. I may try that this weekend. Right now I am thinking about tweaking a seafood bisque recipe. The other soup at olive garden has pasta in it doesn't it? Probably won't be attempting that one.

I would use Dreamfield's Pasta instead of potato. I like pasta better in soup anyway.

Trying this today!
 

My Mom and I are adopting the low carb way of life. I have had great success, but she is still very reluctant to try some of the substitutions. I do not usually like cauiliflower and am a little concerned with using it as a potato substitute, but I am willing to try just about anything once. She hates it and is refusing to even try it. So now I am looking for the squash to use and am having a difficult time locating it. Are there other names for the squash that can act as a potato substitute?

Thanks and we will keep moving forward and onward to success!

I thought your question was a good one so I turned to trusty old google for the answer and found this article: Top Five Low Carb Potato Substitutes

Looking forward to making this real soon now that it's getting cooler. All the variations sound delicious!

Nice link. :)