One of my favorite restaurants is Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Every time I go there I always order this soup with my entree. It is one of my most favorite soups ever. Yes, as you can probably tell by now, I LOVE soups!!! This soup does take a long time to cook ( About 2 hours total cook time, and about 1 hour prep. time) so make sure you make this soup on a day that you have time as this is definitely not one of those quick weeknight dinner recipes. But it is all worth it, and you will know what I mean once you taste this amazing soup! I always make a big pot of it and we eat it for 2 days. It tastes just as great on the 2nd day as it does on the first. I got the recipe from a cook book, but after making it several times I have adjusted some things to perfect this soup and make it taste exactly like it does at Carrabba’s. I always make this soup when someone in my family is sick, it is the most comforting soup to eat if you are sick, and according to legends, this soup has restorative powers. If you love this soup at Carrabba’s then you will enjoy it just as much at home. Actually no…you will enjoy it much more because you can eat as much of it at home as you want and not have to pay by the bowl! Lol.  😉

Mama Mandola’s Sicilian Chicken Soup {Serves 10-12}

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole Chicken (About 3.5 to 4.5 LB)
• 4 Garlic cloves
• 1 Can (14.5 Oz.) Diced tomatoes in juice
• 3 Green Bell Peppers
• 4 Medium baking Potatoes, Russet or Burbank
• 4 Celery Ribs
• 1 large yellow Onion
• 3 Carrots
• 1 small bunch (or 1/2 cup chopped) Flat Leaf Parsley
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 Cup Ditalini or other “Soup Pasta” (I used little shells)

Directions:

1) Wash the Carrots, Green bell peppers, Celery ribs, and Potatoes and put it all in a large bowl. (This just makes things faster and easier.) Get a cutting board and cut all of the veggies. Cut the Celery ribs into 1/4 – inch dice, cut off the white parts on the ends. Cut the Green bell peppers into 1/4- inch dice, make sure to wash it inside, and get all the seeds out, also cut out the white parts of the peppers inside. Peel the Carrots and cut them into 1/4- inch dice. Peel the Potatoes and cut them into 1/2- inch dice.

2) Remove the giblets from the Chicken. To do this, put the chicken with its legs up, then take a spoon and remove the giblets from the hole in between. Throw the giblets out, you will not need them for the soup. Once the giblets are removed, thoroughly wash the chicken both outside and inside. Place it on a  pasta colander in a big bowl to drain excess water.

3) Get a large pot. Put the chicken in the pot first, with the breasts facing down (Kinda like the Chicken is face down, back up). Then put all your cut vegetables on top of the Chicken. Add the can of diced tomatoes AND their juice on top. Then add enough cold water to cover everything by 1 inch.

4)Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, skimming off the foam that rises to the top with a big spoon, into a small bowl. Add in the finely chopped parsley, Garlic (using a garlic press), 1 Tablespoon Salt and 1 teaspoon Pepper.

*That’s a picture of the foam that rises to the top, and needs to be removed!!!*

5) Reduce the heat to Medium-Low ( I had it on 3.5). Partially cover the pot, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through well and almost falling off the bones, about 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours. (I did an hour and 40 minutes, and my chicken was 5 LB cuz that’s the smallest one I found in the store.)

6) In a separate small pot boil water and cook your soup pasta according to the package instructions. When it is ready, drain out the water and set it aside. Fill about half a tea kettle with water and bring it to a boil, you will need this boiling water soon.

7) Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a large bowl and let it cool for about 15 Minutes. Its okay if some parts of the chicken such as a leg or wing break off in the pot, just take out the broken pieces using a big slotted spoon. Keep the soup in the pot simmering.

*I know, it looks beautiful doesn’t it? Lol JK! But Trust me, it tastes really good in the end.*

8) Add the boiled water from the tea kettle to the soup pot, I added between 1/4 to 1/2 a tea kettle, Until the soup was a little more then half of the pot. *You do not have to add extra water if you don’t want to. But I HIGHLY recommend it, because if you don’t the soup will be just way too thick and makes much less servings!*

9) When the Chicken has cooled down, remove the meat, and discard the skin and bones. Be careful not to mangle the meat much, but keep it in neat pieces. Tear or pull the Chicken into large bite-sized pieces. I prefer hand -pulled chicken to chopped chunks. Put the pieces of chicken into a small bowl.

10) Using a potato masher or large slotted spoon, mash some of the potatoes in the soup pot, to lightly thicken the broth. Add the cooked soup pasta to the pot. Then add the large bite-sized pieces of Chicken to the pot. Let it heat through on Medium heat, for about 10 Minutes. *Best when served hot!*

* I forgot to take a picture of the pot with the end result. So this is a close up of the soup and how it looks in the pot. Sorry, I’m still new to this!*

Today we have snow in Charlotte. Third day in a row. In February! It is freezing cold outside and the snow just keeps piling up. This soup is the perfect soup to warm you up on such a day as today, So I made a big pot of it for my family. This soup is famous in the chain Italian restaurant, Olive Garden. So of course I had to try to make it at home. There are many different recipes for this amazing soup, but this recipe is my own. I have been making it this way since we got married. The way I came up with this recipe is by putting together all the things that I tasted in the soup when I tried it at Olive Garden. It came out great and I have been making it that way for many years now and anyone who has ever tried it, Loved it. My grandmother from Massachusetts always requests me to make this soup when she comes to visit us. So I decided to put this yummy recipe here so that others can try it, and for those that already have tried it and loved it, to be able to make it for their own families. 🙂

Zuppa Toscana Soup {Serves 10-12}

Ingredients:

• 1  1/2 LB Italian Sausage (Mild)
• 7 Slices of Thick Cut Bacon
• 4-5 Redskin potatoes
• 12 Cups Water
• 2 Tablespoons Oil
• 4 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
• 1 1/2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 Large onion
• 1/2 OR 3/4 teaspoon, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (Depending on how spicy you like your soup. I do 3/4 teaspoon because we like it with a little spicy kick)
• 1/2 a Bunch of Kale
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder

Directions: 

1) Get the ground meat out of the Italian sausages. I do this by holding the sausage with one hand and with the other squeezing out the ground meat. I shape the ground meat into little round balls. Then set it aside in a plate.

2) Cut your slices of Bacon into little pieces. (As pictured below.) Set aside in a plate.

3) Finely chop your onion.

4) Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a large pot on Medium-High heat. (I did a 7.5) Throw in the Italian sausage and crushed red pepper flakes. Mix the sausage every once in a while so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pot. Add in the garlic powder.

5) When the sausage is a little cooked through, add in the bacon pieces and chopped onion. Don’t forget to keep mixing.

6) Saute everything until the sausage and bacon is cooked through and the onion is soft and translucent.

7) Then add the water to the pot. Bring it to a boil.

8) Meanwhile cut your potatoes. *Leave the skin on! Note that this will not taste as well with regular potatoes, only Red Skin Potatoes. But when I had to substitute with regular potatoes I peeled off the skin.*

9)When the water boils, add the cubes of chicken bouillon. *I Cut my cubes so that they dissolve faster.*

10) Then add the potatoes into the pot.

11) Cook until the potatoes are soft. About 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile wash and chop the Kale. Only cut the leafy part of the kale, Into about 1 inch pieces. Cut off the stem completely because you will not need it, you can throw it out.

12) Then add the heavy whipping cream to the pot. cook until it is thoroughly heated.

13) Add in the pieces of Kale. Stir well. Once the Kale is soft and the heavy whipping cream has heated through, your soup is ready! If you have to add salt/pepper you can do so. *My soup was perfect so I did not add any. Probably because the chicken bouillon cubes have salt in them.* I serve this soup with Hot fresh bread sticks, or take and bake bread. It tastes best hot out of the oven to go with this soup.