Zuppa Toscana

This is adapted from the Olive Garden version. It's delicious. :)

1lb Italian sausage
1 onion, diced finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ c wine (to deglaze the pan)
½ tsp crushed red pepper
2 c fresh kale
4 russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
4 c chicken stock
1 c water
1 c heavy cream
salt and pepper

In a large pot, brown the Italian sausage and drain with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pan. Add the onion, garlic and red pepper, cooking until the onions are transparent. Add the wine and stir with a wooden spoon or wire whisk to deglaze the pan. Return the sausage to the pan and add the potatoes, kale, chicken stock and water. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer 20 mins or so until potatoes are tender. When done, remove from heat and add cream. Serve with salt & pepper to taste.

Marinara (new recipe)

Every once in a while, I'll fiddle around with a recipe when I see something on the food network that makes me question something I've done with a recipe in the past. My spaghetti sauce recipe is an example of that. I love making it and it's delicious, but it has a lot of spices in it. But I couldn't help thinking that there had to be an easier recipe out there. So I played around with ingredients and looked at hoards of recipes online and I think I've finally perfected it. It's the perfect blend of sweet and tangy. Because I'm not adding meat to it, I added beef bouillon which you can leave out if you add meat. Try it and see what you think.

As always, I make enough for an army, so you may wanna have freezer bags handy.

1 #10 can of tomato sauce (this is roughly 6-7lbs of tomato sauce)
1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes (chopped) (Or you can use diced tomatoes if you want more texture)
1 sweet onion, diced
2 heads garlic, roasted and mashed (full heads, not cloves)
¼ c olive oil
¼ c dried basil
¼ c dried oregano
½ c parsley
1 T seasoned salt (I use Lawry's)
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp beef bouillon

In the olive oil, cook the diced onions and mashed garlic until a golden color. Add to it the tomatoes, then slowly stir in spices and bouillon. Bring to a low boil, then simmer over low heat 2-3 hours.