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Zuppa Toscana with Mushroom and Pheasant Stock

We had planted a few rows of Kale in our garden this year, to say it's been a bountiful year for it would be an understatement, it just keeps on giving! We had to figure out what we were going to do with all this kale. It was literally pilling up in our refrigerator, that and the Arugula ( Rocket Salad ) we planted.

One of my all-time favorite meals to eat when we're out, is the Zuppa Toscana soup at Olive Garden. It's basically a potato soup, but unlike your typical potato soup, which I also love, this Tuscan soup features Kale, Sausage, Onions and Garlic in a warm broth. Since we had so much Kale, I thought it'd be a good idea to try to recreate the Olive Garden soup that I love, only in this version we were going to use Pheasant stock and Mushrooms, not the typical ingredients for this soup, I know, but since it's my version, I get to do what I want. Of all the meals Tami and I have cooked ... for me, this one definitely ranks near the top, I love the way that it turned out and the taste was very comparable to the Original Olive Garden soup.

I would recommend serving this with a good loaf of crusty white bread. Slice it up, then heat it up in the oven and when it comes out, rub it down with some raw garlic. Some of you may not like the texture of the mushrooms in the broth, if so, just cut them up into smaller pieces or leave them out completely, either way, the taste and aroma of the mushrooms will still carry over nicely from the stock, adding a little more depth of flavor.

Ingredients

Instructions

Zuppa Toscana with Mushroom and Peasant Stock

Step #1 Add 1 cup of Dried Porcini Mushrooms to 2 cups cold water. Allow to soak for two hours.

Step #2 You want to reserve the mushroom water, so remove the mushrooms from the water and place them on a paper towel to dry. Pour the mushroom water through a paper towel into another cup. This will help filter out any dirt from the stock.

Step #3 Prepare other ingredients by dicing up Shallots, Garlic and Mushrooms.

Step #4 Rinse the Kale, remove stems, then roughly chop

Step #5 Slice the russet potatoes

Step #6 Add 2 tablespoon of Olive Oil to large Dutch Oven on medium heat.

Step #7 Sprinkle In a few Crushed Red Pepper flakes and allow to warm in Oil.

Step #8 Add Sausage to Dutch Oven and allow to brown, breaking up large bits with wooden spatula.

Step #9 Remove with slotted spoon to plate covered with paper towels.

Step #10 Add diced shallots, then cook 3-4 minute

Step #11 Add diced garlic and cook for an additional minute

Step #12 Add sliced potatoes to pan and thyme leaves

Step #13 Add 4 cups of Pheasant stock and 2 cups of Mushroom Stock.

Step #14 Add drained mushrooms

Step #15 Add Salt

Step #16 Bring to rolling boil and reduce to a simmer.

Step #17 Cook 20 minutes then remove from heat.

Step #18 Add sausage and kale.

Step #19 Add heavy cream, stirring to incorporate all the ingredients.

Step #20 Toast some crusty white bread in the oven. When it comes out, rub it down with raw garlic.

Step #21 Enjoy.

Recipe Card

Zuppa Toscana with Mushroom and Pheasant Stock

Written by Jeff Davis Visit : Visit authors website

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Prep Time: 30 - Cook Time: 30 min

Ingredients

5 Russett Potatoes

5 clove(s) Garlic

4 Shallots

1 tbsp Olive Oil

4 Springs of Thyme

1/2 cup(s) Heavy Cream

1 lbs Spicy Pheasant Sausage or Italian Sausage

4 cup(s) Unsalted Pheasant Stock ( or Chicken Stock )

2 cup(s) Mushroom Stock

1 cup(s) Dried Porcini Mushrooms

2 cup(s) Kale, chopped

Red Pepper Flakes

salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Zuppa Toscana with Mushroom and Peasant Stock

Step #1 - Add 1 cup of Dried Porcini Mushrooms to 2 cups cold water. Allow to soak for two hours.

Step #2 - You want to reserve the mushroom water, so remove the mushrooms from the water and place them on a paper towel to dry. Pour the mushroom water through a paper towel into another cup. This will help filter out any dirt from the stock.

Step #3 - Prepare other ingredients by dicing up Shallots, Garlic and Mushrooms.

Step #4 - Rinse the Kale, remove stems, then roughly chop

Step #5 - Slice the russet potatoes

Step #6 - Add 2 tablespoon of Olive Oil to large Dutch Oven on medium heat.

Step #7 - Sprinkle In a few Crushed Red Pepper flakes and allow to warm in Oil.

Step #8 - Add Sausage to Dutch Oven and allow to brown, breaking up large bits with wooden spatula.

Step #9 - Remove with slotted spoon to plate covered with paper towels.

Step #10 - Add diced shallots, then cook 3-4 minute

Step #11 - Add diced garlic and cook for an additional minute

Step #12 - Add sliced potatoes to pan and thyme leaves

Step #13 - Add 4 cups of Pheasant stock and 2 cups of Mushroom Stock.

Step #14 - Add drained mushrooms

Step #15 - Add Salt

Step #16 - Bring to rolling boil and reduce to a simmer.

Step #17 - Cook 20 minutes then remove from heat.

Step #18 - Add sausage and kale.

Step #19 - Add heavy cream, stirring to incorporate all the ingredients.

Step #20 - Toast some crusty white bread in the oven. When it comes out, rub it down with raw garlic.

Step #21 - Enjoy.

About the Author

Jeff Davis

You may think cooking and recipes don’t have much to do with a website dedicated to hunting dogs ... but really, why do we hunt? Sure, we enjoy watching our dogs work in the field and being outdoors, but ultimately, hunting is about survival and feeding our families. We might as well try to do it well. I'm not a chef and definitely no food authority ... but I do like to eat and enjoy cooking. After searching for people willing to share their recipes on Gundog Central, without much success, I decided to try to do a few on my own, with my wife Tami's help. The recipes I share here are things I like to eat and have made here at home. I've tried to include step-by-step instructions with each meal describing exactly how I did it, but my method may not be best, if you decide to try a recipe posted here, please use whatever technique you think works best, I'm simply sharing how I did it. You'll see a lot of recipes where I've tried to make things from starch, when I could have just used store bought ingredients, simply because I wanted to learn how something was done. My goal is to continually update these recipes as I learn new things and techniques. These are my attempts at creating good, home cooked food, that I would like to eat! If I'm sharing it here, my family and I enjoyed it and I believe you will too.