This soup comes together so quickly and is very easy to customize to your liking. People who follow a low carb diet have used squash and cauliflower instead of potatoes, some have added mushrooms and carrots. The turkey breakfast sausage gives it a good flavor - It’s a recipe I came up with randomly because I had some breakfast sausage to use up. It’s like the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana, but slightly different. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow onion, finely minced
4 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup finely diced celery
1/4 cup finely diced bell pepper (I used orange. Yellow or red would work as well)
1 lb turkey (or pork in either mild or spicy variety) breakfast sausage
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
3 cups (750ml) chicken stock
2 1/2 cups diced yellow potatoes like russet (I used baby Dutch yellow potatoes that keep their shape, but russet will thicken the soup a bit more and give it some texture)
2-3 cups chopped curly kale
1/2 cup heavy cream
Optional to thicken: 1tbsp cornstarch + 1/4 cup water combined

Guidelines:

Add onion, garlic, celery, bell pepper and sausage to a pot over medium heat and cook until the sausage is browned. The fat will render and cook the vegetables thus eliminating the need for extra oil. (5-8 minutes)

Add spices and cook 2-3 minutes until fragrant then use a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Add stock and potatoes, reduce heat to medium-low and place a lid on your pot. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender - You can smash a few to thicken the soup as well or add the cornstarch slurry and cook for 5 minutes more. Turn the heat off, finish with heavy cream and stir in the kale. The residual heat will wilt the kale, just make sure you don’t add any tough kale stems.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve!