One restaurant I miss is Olive Garden! I’m a carb lover, give me all of the carbs!
Alfredo was my most favourite dish(with broccoli and chicken, mind you), and I’ll have to find a vegan recipe for some Alfredo!
In the meantime, this post isn’t about Alfredo (unfortunately), it is about another seemingly popular dish: Zuppa Toscana.
I’ve seen a video of mock Zuppa Toscana all over Facebook and I’ve wanted to try to veganize it for months, but never got the chance to (read: I’m lazy).
Finally, I saw it again, and I had all of the ingredients as well as the want to make it. Basically, I had no plans for dinner and it looked good!
It’s actually very easy to make, assuming you have everything on hand. If you’re vegan I’m guessing there’s a very good chance you’ll have everything on hand. One of the best things is that it’s super easy to substitute items for other similar ingredients.
Honestly, I’ve never had this dish. I’m not sure how it’s supposed to taste. How I made it, it tasted good, but it was missing something. This is where my recipe goes from Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana, to more of a Greek soup I had many many moons ago. If you’ve had Avgolemono, it’s similar to that, if I’m remembering properly.
Enough chatter! Let’s get to the recipe!
•Ingredients•
2 tbs olive oil (or whatever oil you have)
1 onion (I used yellow, but I think white would be okay)
2 tbs garlic (or to taste)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (or to taste)
3-4 Russet potatoes (2-3 if you’re not fond of potatoes)
2 cups water
4 tsp veggie bullion
1 can spinach (or fresh. I think traditionally it’s made with kale)
1 can chickpeas (or you can use vegan Italian sausage. I’m personally not a fan)
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup nooch
Salt and pepper to taste
The special zing, lemon juice. I did this in each serving so it can be done to each individual persons taste
This recipe makes about 4 servings. Make more and freeze the extra for a quick and easy dinner a different night!
•Prep•
Chop onions and garlic if necessary. Chop potatoes into varying bite size pieces (doesn’t have to be perfect)
I had to make my own Italian seasoning as I don’t have any. I used basil, thyme, and oregano. Please feel free to use more than I suggested if you like Italian seasoning!
Go ahead and make your veggie stock if necessary.
If you have ready made veggie stock just use the same two cups, but don’t add water.
•Directions•
Put the oil into a pot and pop the chopped onions in. When they’ve sautéed and are transparent add the garlic. Let those cook down, but don’t let them burn (I’ve made that mistake and it’s horrendous).
Add your seasonings.
Pour in your broth and add the potatoes. Let the potatoes cook thoroughly until they’re soft. You can add in the chickpeas and spinach about halfway through so they warm up.
When the potatoes are cooked, lower the heat and add coconut milk so it heats up too.
Don’t worry, you won’t taste the coconut milk too much, if at all.
When everything is warm, add the nooch and season with salt and pepper if needed.
And that’s it!
You can leave your soup here or do what I did and add some lemon juice.
The lemon juice is to taste, so add it slowly, so that you don’t over do it and ruin it.
