When I was growing up, every Southern lady subscribed to the beloved Southern Living magazine. My mom was one of them. I remember her reading others, too: Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping, and Better Homes and Gardens, to name a few. But Southern Living was the holy grail!
One of the first things I did after marrying was subscribe to Southern Living! They always had great decorating tips, and their recipes were the best.
If you subscribed to the magazine, the Southern Living Cookbook was mailed to you every year. It contained every recipe that had been in every issue all year. You could choose to purchase the book or send it back. If you come into my house today and walk down the hall, you will notice a bookcase and know I never sent one back!
Living in the digital world that we do, I could find everything I needed on the internet, so I stopped getting magazines years ago.
Then, when my mom passed away two years ago, she had an active Southern Living subscription. I changed the name and address to mine and started getting it in the mail again.
It took me some time, but now I love getting the magazine in my mailbox every month! Just seeing it in the mailbox fills me with joy. And there’s just something about holding it and reading words on a page rather than holding my phone or tablet and scrolling that feels so right.
Today’s recipe for Zuppa Toscana isn’t out of Southern Living. Still, it could not be more timely with the cold temperatures this week. I love soups and stews any time of the year, but they are incredibly comforting in the wintertime.
The creamy broth with Italian sausage and chock full of veggies is terrific! Substitute spinach for kale if you prefer, and leave out the mushrooms and zucchini if you want your soup to be more like the one served at Olive Garden. This version contains cauliflower instead of potatoes, but you can switch that out, too.
Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 8 ounce baby Bella mushrooms sliced or chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups cauliflower florets cut bite-size
- 1 medium zucchini 1/2-inch dice
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups fresh kale chopped
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven, over medium heat, heat the oil.
- Add onions and mushrooms, salt and pepper. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook another minute, stirring.
- Add Italian sauce and red pepper flakes to the pot. Cook, breaking up sausage with a spoon and stirring occasionally, until sausage is no longer pink.
- Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and add cauliflower and cook until tender, about 30 minutes.
- Add zucchini and cook about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and kale and cook an additional 15 minutes.
- Taste for seasoning. Serve.
