for this chilly night....

this really has been the longest winter.  i know we should be moving on to some beautiful spring recipes but it's still sooo cold out.  i thought i would share one more soup recipe.  it is super easy and tastes really good.  only 7 ingredients.

this past weekend i wasn't going to be home... except i was.  long story.  opening up our hearts to the unexpected frees us somehow.
in any case,  it turned out super productive.  i put the finishing touches on the new downstairs bath and i think it came out super cute.

we redid the photo wall on the stairs and i was happy with that too. it's a bit difficult to take a photo tho it's a strange angle,  i'll try again when its daylight.

 our new light fixture got installed which i love.  it can be super bright for projects or super low for cozy dinners.

i know this long winter is coming to an end, i can almost feel spring looming in the distance.
until then,  have one more bowl of steaming soup, you'll love it.


zuppa toscana
ingredients

1 pound of ground hot sausage.   i might 1/2 the hot portion next time
1 small white onion diced
4 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 ounce jar of roasted red peppers drained and diced.
1 bunch of kale chopped (stems removed) into bite size pieces
1 pd of potato gnocchi
1/2 c heavy cream
salt and pepper
optional topping (freshly grated parmesan cheese, crumbled bacon)

directions

add italian sausage and diced onion to the large stockpot.  cook over medium-high heat until the sausage is completely browned, stirring occasionally and breaking up the sausage with a spoon.  drain out as much of the excess grease as possible.

then add in the chicken stock and diced roasted red peppers, and bring the mixture to a simmer (still over medium-high heat).  once it reaches a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and add the kale and gnocchi and stir to combine.  continue cooking for 5 minutes, or until the gnocchi are cooked through and tender.  stir in the heavy cream.  season to taste with salt and pepper.  (i used about 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper.)

serve warm with desired toppings.

i highly recommend using "hot" italian sausage for this recipe, i found it to be quite spicy.   if you want you can use 1/2 pd hot italian sausage and 1/2 pd of regular.  with so few ingredients, the sausage is actually the ingredient that provides most of the seasoning for this soup, and much of the heat will be dispersed over the multiple servings.  so unless you're really averse to spicy food, take the chance and go hot with this one!

enjoy.

love sent, xo