Zuppa Toscana can be described as a medium thick creamysoup that has amazing tastes and textures.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Soup
Cuisine: Italian, Tuscan
Keyword: tuscan soup instant pot, zuppa tuscan soup instant pot
Servings: 6
Calories: 569kcal
Author: Rose
Ingredients
1pound500g Italian sausage
6slicesbacon 220g spec or lardons
⅓poundkale200 - 300g kale with stems removed
1onion
3potatoesrusset potato is a good choice
3garlic cloves
4cupsunsalted chicken stock
1cupheavy cream
½teaspoonsaltand ground black pepper to taste
½teaspooncayenne pepper or red pepper flakes optional - we used it to enhance the flavor
Instructions
Prepare Vegetables: Finely dice the onion and the garlic. Give the Kale (you could use spinach but kale has a nicer texture for the soup)a wash and then strip the stalks by tearing them out or cutting them with a sharp knife. Wash (can peel if necessary) the potato and dice it into 1/2 inch cubes. The key is to get them relatively even in size so they all take the same time to cook.
Meat: Chop your bacon to 1/4 inch size (we used a slab or spec bacon) - and I would recommend smoked bacon if you can as after cooking you want a texture of large crumbled bacon - to give the soup a smokey texture. Then peel the skin off the Italian Sausage.
Saute: Heat up Instant Pot to Saute high heat and render out the bacon fat. Stir and let the bacon bits crisp up a little, take out the cooked bacon. Then add in the sausage and cook them out a bit also - about 4-5 minutes. Remove the bacon and sausage from the Instant Pot bowl - and place in a bowl - or plate keep the liquid that drains out has great flavor we will put back later.
Deglaze: Add a little of your chicken stock to deglaze any caramelized meat on the bottom of the instant pot bowl (still with the saute function turned on) by scraping the bottom with a flat bottom wooden spoon. After you have done this add the onion and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes.
Pressure Cooking: Now add in the potatoes and stir well to mix them up with the onions and garlic. Next, add back in the cooked bacon and the bite-sized Italian sausage. Lastly, add in your chicken stock liquid - mix again and put on the instant pot lid, and cook for 5 minutes High Pressure and then a quick release of pressure - be careful not to burn yourself with the steam. Double-check the potatoes are cooked - try one.
Final Cooking: Take out the bacon rind if you had it like us - and put in the kale and then the cream. Stir for about 2-3 minutes to let the kale soften a little and to let the cream mix around everywhere - keep stirring. The result is a lovely creamy broth!
Season: add in salt and pepper to season - and taste - repeat until you are happy with the taste - we also added about 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (you could also use chili or red pepper flakes. This just helps with the overall taste, and such a little does not make it spicy - but add only a very small amount first until you are familiar with the seasoning process.
Serve: Now you are ready to plate up and enjoy the chicken broth-based Tuscan Soup all made in with an instant pot recipe and quicker than normal stovetop or slow cooker methods.