Zuppa Toscana

Ahh finally the reason I made Italian Sausage the other day! A hardcore craving for Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana... how creamy and potatoey and delicious! I had to wait until the weather cooled down, so as soon as I saw rain, I grabbed my sweater and started making this.
I'm not proclaiming this is THE OG recipe, but the taste is exactly the one I remember.... dreams in a bowl. Even Eric, Mr. "I don't like soup" loved it and licked the bowl clean.
This serves 6.
Ingredients:

• 1 lb crumbled Italian sausage
• 1 Tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 large diced white onion
• 2 tsp finely minced garlic
• 7 cups water
• 3 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3-5 large potatoes
• 2 knobs frozen spinach or a bunch of fresh

Directions:
1. Sautée the sausage and drain the fat. Please do drain, I forgot to, and my grease floated to the top. It was still fabulously delicious, but I scraped the fat off my leftover portion... it's psychologically better. Take out the cooked sausage.
2. Sautée the onions and garlic a few minutes, then add the potatoes and crushed red pepper (use to your spice level.. I usually go easy and then add the heat in my own bowl) and cook for around 5 minutes, stirring.
3. Pour in the water and cubes chicken bouillon and cook for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. I used a pressure cooker and did 10.
4. Add the cooked sausage and spinach. Cook until it wilts (or your frozen cubes come apart) and stir in the heavy cream.

Serve with parmesan and fresh ground pepper.. and good bread!

My picture is kind of orange-ish.. that's because I forgot to drain the fat. Please drain the fat..it will still blow your mind, but there is no need to ingest extra calories for nothing.