Cutting the potatoes into big chunks is why so many weeknight versions of zuppa toscana take closer to 45 minutes than 30. A 1-inch cube of russet potato needs 15 to 20 minutes of simmering to cook through. Halve the potato lengthwise and slice it 1/4 inch thick, and the same potato is tender in about 10 minutes, with more surface to release starch and thicken the broth.
This is the creamy sausage, potato and kale soup popular in Italian-American restaurants, loosely based on the rustic soups of Tuscany. Everything happens in one pot: brown the sausage, soften the onion in its fat, simmer the potatoes in stock, wilt the kale and finish with cream.
The 30-Minute Zuppa Toscana Plan
The plan works because each step overlaps with prep for the next. While the sausage browns, chop the onion. While the potatoes simmer, strip and chop the kale.
Use a 5- to 6-quart pot or Dutch oven. A wide pot browns the sausage faster, and there is plenty of room once the stock and potatoes go in.
Italian Sausage Soup Starts With Browning
Bulk Italian sausage, sold without casings, saves a step. If only links are available, slit the casings with a knife and squeeze the meat out. Choose mild or hot depending on taste; hot sausage gives the soup a gentle, building warmth, and the recipe’s red pepper flakes can be reduced or left out to compensate.
Press the sausage into a flat layer and leave it for 3 to 4 minutes before breaking it up, so it develops a brown crust. Browned sausage gives the broth its depth; sausage that is only cooked through gives a pale, thin soup. Cook until no pink remains; pork sausage is safe at 160°F (71°C).
The fat left in the pot is full of flavor and seasoning. Spoon off all but about 2 tablespoons, then cook the onion in what remains.
Potatoes and Kale: Timing Is Everything
Russet potatoes are the right choice here. They are high in starch, and as they simmer some of that starch dissolves into the stock and thickens it slightly, giving body to a soup without flour. Waxy potatoes such as red potatoes hold their shape better but leave the broth thinner.
Test a slice after 8 minutes by pressing it against the side of the pot with a spoon. When it breaks with little resistance, the potatoes are done. A few slices breaking apart is fine; they add to the creaminess.
Adding the kale
Lacinato kale, also called Tuscan or dinosaur kale, has flat, dark leaves that soften quickly and keep their color. Curly kale works too but takes a minute or two longer. Strip the leaves from the tough center ribs by pulling them along the stem, then chop them into strips. Add the kale only after the potatoes are tender. Three to 4 minutes in the hot soup makes it tender and bright; 15 minutes turns it dull olive green and soft.
Cream at the end
Heavy cream has enough fat to be stirred into hot soup without curdling, but it tastes best when it is just heated through rather than boiled. Lower the heat before stirring it in and let the soup steam for a minute or two.
Shortcuts and Swaps
- Swap kale for a 5-ounce bag of baby spinach, stirred in for the last 30 seconds.
- Replace the cream with half-and-half for a lighter soup, or with full-fat coconut milk for a dairy-free version.
- Use ground turkey seasoned with 1 teaspoon fennel seed and 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano in place of pork sausage.
- Add 4 slices of chopped bacon, cooked with the sausage, for a smokier soup.
Cauliflower florets, cut small, can replace half the potatoes for a lower-starch soup; they cook in about the same time.
Seasoning the Broth Without Overdoing the Salt
Sausage, stock and Parmesan all bring salt to this soup, so it is easy to oversalt by seasoning early. Use low-sodium stock and do not add salt until the very end, after the cream is in. Taste a spoonful that includes broth, potato and sausage, because the potatoes absorb salt and taste blander than the liquid around them.
If the finished soup tastes flat rather than under-salted, it usually needs acid or heat rather than salt. A teaspoon of lemon juice or a few more red pepper flakes often brings it into focus. A grind of black pepper over each bowl helps too.
Italian sausage brands vary a great deal in seasoning. Some are heavy with fennel seed, which gives a faint anise flavor; others lean on garlic and black pepper. If your sausage is mildly seasoned, add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed fennel seed with the garlic. The brand you choose will shape the soup more than any other single ingredient, so it is worth noting which one you like.
Homemade chicken stock gives the fullest flavor, but a good low-sodium boxed stock is perfectly suitable for a weeknight. Taste it before cooking; if it is weak, simmer the potatoes in it partly covered so it reduces slightly.
Make It
Serves six. Serve with crusty bread and a bowl of grated Parmesan at the table.
The recipe
Zuppa Toscana
Browned Italian sausage, thinly sliced russet potatoes and lacinato kale simmered in chicken stock and finished with heavy cream.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
Method
- Brown the sausage. Heat a 5- to 6-quart pot over medium-high heat. Press the sausage into an even layer and cook undisturbed 3 to 4 minutes, until browned underneath, then break it up and cook until no pink remains, 3 to 4 minutes more. Spoon off all but 2 Tbsp fat.
- Onion and garlic. Add the onion and cook 4 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes for 30 seconds.
- Simmer the potatoes. Add the stock and potatoes, bring to a boil, then simmer briskly 10 to 12 minutes, until the potatoes break easily against the side of the pot.
- Wilt the kale. Stir in the kale and simmer 3 to 4 minutes, until tender and bright green.
- Finish. Lower the heat, stir in the cream and heat 1 to 2 minutes without boiling. Season with salt and pepper and serve with Parmesan.
Notes
- Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated; loosen with stock when reheating.
- To freeze, leave out the cream and add it after reheating.
Oven temperatures are for conventional ovens; for convection, reduce by about 25°F (15°C).
Leftovers
Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and use them within 3 to 4 days. The potatoes continue to absorb liquid, so the soup thickens overnight; loosen it with a splash of stock while reheating gently over medium-low heat until steaming, without letting it boil hard. Cream-based soups with potatoes do not freeze especially well, as the potatoes turn grainy and the cream can separate. For freezing, make the soup without cream and add it after reheating.