# Zuppa Toscana with Smoked Chorizo



## fire it up (Nov 23, 2009)

The other day I was in the mood for some Zuppa Toscana, I love that soup.
Decided to use chorizo instead of hot sausage because I thought it would be a nice flavor.  Only had chorizo once a looooong time ago, was going to buy a package when I lived in AZ but traditional or not when you include lymph nodes and tear ducts I'm not gonna buy it.

As you can see these had no mention of such things, whether it was in there or not doesn't matter I just don't want to know about it.



Good to go 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Smoked over hickory, took about an hour to reach 165.



Ingredients:
4 potatoes, cubed
3 slices of bacon, diced
bunch of kale
half and half, cream is good too.
chorizo and some hot Italian sausage (the chorizo didn't have nearly enough flavor)
2 big cans of chicken broth, I like extra liquid in my soup
1-2tsp crushed red pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
one medium onion, diced


Crumbled the sausage and threw it in a large pot to cook along with the crushed red pepper, removed and drained the grease, added the bacon in until cooked, removed and threw the onions and garlic in the bacon grease until soft.





Add both cans of broth and bacon, bring to a boil. What a difference between regular and low sodium!



Once it comes to a boil added the 4 cubed potatoes and boiled for 20 minutes (until potatoes are soft) then reduced heat to medium, added half and half (not really measuring but 3/4 of the container I had or 1 cup of cream) and the sausage and heated for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the kale (or spinach or any greens) right before serving, give it a good stir and enjoy a bowl of goodness.


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## alx (Nov 23, 2009)

Dang Jim.That would take the chill out of me on a cold wet day like today....
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





That Kale and the other greens are very good for folk....


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## meatball (Nov 23, 2009)

Nice looking soup! I love kale! I'll have to give this a try.


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## rivet (Nov 23, 2009)

Very, VERY nice tutorial on some fine Eye-talian soup, Jim! Interesting switch to chorizo....and good one in my book. Nice twist of flavor on a good standard. I'm with you on the Mexican or "fresh" chorizo with the lymph nodes and salivary glands....can't abide by that even though it tastes good.

From what I know, and understand, European chorizo (Spain, Portugal~ the hard cured kind) does not include such stuff, but very well may use blood in it. No worries there, I prefer it anyway and like blood sausage in any event.

Spanish chorizo is impossible to find around here, so we order it online. Check out these links, all good and all have great stuff.

http://www.spaingourmet.com

http://www.tienda.com

Back on track, thanks for posting such a fine recipe! Definitely the time of year for soups....


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## mballi3011 (Nov 23, 2009)

Man Jim thats a nice soap for sure for a chilly night (like about 60* or so) It would sure warm the bones. I could have this with a nice fire in the fireplace and a good cup of this stuff with a blanket just me and the wife. OK we better stop this one now.


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## scarbelly (Nov 23, 2009)

That is a great looking soup. Thanks for taking the time to share it. I love greens in this kind of soup - just adds a whole extra dimension. I also like to use parmesan rinds when cooking the soup for a little extra flavor
Thanks again for the great tutorial


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## beer-b-q (Nov 24, 2009)

Great Looking Soup, the Chorizo looks great all by itself...


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