Fast & Fabulous Fall Soups Class: Presto Zuppa Toscana

Today I taught a class, “Fast & Fabulous Fall Soups” at the Salt Lake Culinary Center (2235 S. 300 East).  This was the Viking Cooking School until last August, when the culinary director Diane Sheya bought it to keep it from closing.

This is a gorgeous venue to to cook in — high-end ranges, beautiful marble counters, perfectly sharp knives and all the other great tools that make cooking more of a pleasure.   Best of all, there’s a kitchen assistant

who does the dishes!

There were 11 students, and they were enthusiastic and fun to work with. The kitchen manager had already made a quadruple batch of one of my favorite fall soups,  Post-Thanksgiving Turkey Chili. As people came in, they could sit down and enjoy a bowl of soup while I shared information about soups — and why I developed recipes for my “Soup’s On!” cookbook that could be made in 30 minutes.

Then they split up into three teams. Each team had their own stovetop and counter to work on. And the ingredients were already measured out for them by Tim, one of the Salt Lake Culinary Center’s staffers. (He  recently earned a culinary degree from the Art Institute, and will be spending this winter as a butcher and charcuterie specialist for the posh Montage Resort in Park City!)

The teams first cooked the Harvest Pumpkin Soup with Cheddar, which has really has no chopping or peeling. Probably the most challenging task was using the immersion blender to puree it.

Then it was on to the Presto Zuppa Toscana, which is my “fast & fabulous” version of Olive Garden’s soup.  About  the only major “work” was cooking the sausage and breaking it up, and then chopping the kale. I showed them how to remove the spine from the kale before chopping.  Everyone got to ladle out bowls of soups for themselves to sit down and enjoy at the communal table. And they packaged some to take home and share.

I enjoyed meeting the enthusiastic students, as well as Diane’s friendly and knowledgable staff. For future classes, you can check the schedule here.  One that’s bound be popular is the Nov. 9  Thanksgiving 101 session  — a whole menu of the holiday classics, but with a flavorful twist.

Here’s my Presto Zuppa Toscana recipe, from my cookbook, “Soup’s On!”

PRESTO ZUPPA TOSCANA

Prep time:  30 minutes

Makes about 6 1 1/2- C. servings.

         Inspired by Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana, this creamy sausage soup saves time with hash browns O’Brien potatoes and packaged bacon pieces.

1 lb. bulk sausage (use mild sausage for a mild flavor; hot if you want more heat; “breakfast” sausage for in between)

1 28-oz. bag hash brown potatoes O’Brien

3 14-oz. cans chicken broth (or 1 48-ounce package)

2 tsp. garlic powder

3 tablespoons dried minced onion

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (if you are using mild sausage), or to taste

1/2 cup packaged real bacon pieces (1 package)

4 C. chopped kale, loosely packed

1 C. whipping cream (or half-and-half, or or milk for less fat)

1. Place the sausage in a 4-to-6-quart stock pot and brown it over medium-high heat, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks.

2. Drain the fat from sausage (if there’s not much fat, don’t worry about draining).

3. Add potatoes, broth, water, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and bacon pieces. Cook at a gentle boil about 5 minutes.

4. While soup is cooking, chop kale or Swiss chard. Add to soup and cook an additional 10 minutes, or until kale and potatoes are tender.

5. Turn off the heat. Stir in cream and mix until well-blended.