Bacon and Italian sausage release plenty of fat as they cook, so draining the pot can feel like the obvious next step. I skip it when making Zuppa Toscana and use what remains in the pot to start building the soup.
Sausage cooks first, followed by bacon, onion, and garlic in the same pot. The broth goes straight into that base, carrying the browned bits and rendered fat into a soup filled with thin potato slices, kale, sausage, and cream.
Brown the Sausage First
Start with 16 ounces of spicy Italian sausage in a large pot or Dutch oven.
Brown the sausage, then remove it with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Using a slotted spoon leaves the rendered fat behind instead of taking everything out with the meat.
Eight slices of bacon go into the same pot next. Cut them into small pieces and cook until crisp.
Cook the Onion in the Same Pot
Once the bacon has cooked, add half a diced yellow onion without cleaning the pot.
Cook it for about five to six minutes, then add two or three minced garlic cloves for another minute. At this point, the onion and garlic are cooking against everything left behind by the sausage and bacon rather than starting in a fresh pot with separate oil.
Chicken broth and water go in next, along with crushed red pepper flakes if you want more heat.
Slice the Potatoes Thin Instead of Cutting Chunks
Five medium russet potatoes go into the broth, but they're sliced thin rather than cut into large cubes.
Uniform slices matter because they need to become tender at about the same time. A mandoline makes it easier to keep the thickness consistent, though a knife works too.
Return the cooked sausage to the pot with the potatoes and bring the soup to a simmer. The thin slices need about 10 minutes to become tender.
Add Kale and Cream Near the End
Four cups of chopped kale go in after the potatoes have softened. Simmer for another five to 10 minutes, then taste the broth before adding extra salt.
Bacon and sausage already contribute salt, so seasoning before tasting can push the soup further than you want.
Stir in one cup of heavy whipping cream at the end and let it heat through without rebuilding the soup around a long cream simmer. Parmesan can go over each bowl before serving.
What looks like fat left behind after cooking the meat is also the starting point for the next layers of the soup. Instead of draining the pot and adding another cooking fat for the onion, Zuppa Toscana uses the sausage and bacon drippings from the first steps through the finished broth.
Do you drain sausage and bacon fat before making soup, or leave some behind for the broth?
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