Vegan Zuppa Toscana
A creamy and cozy Vegan Zuppa Toscana made with potatoes, kale, vegan sausage, and dairy-free cream for the ultimate plant-based comfort soup.
Servings: 6
Equipment
- Large Soup Pot or Dutch Oven
- High Speed Blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Cashews
- 1 cup Water
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 links Italian Style Plant-Based Sausage Any brand works here
- 2 lbs Golden potatoes Sliced into ¼ inch slices
- 1 Yellow or White Onion Diced
- 6 cloves Garlic Minced
- 5 sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 7 cups Vegetable or Vegan Chicken Stock
- 1 tsp Red Chili Flakes Adjust to taste
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- ½ cup Nutritional Yeast
- 4 cups Lacinato Kale Destemmed and roughly chopped
- 1 pinch Ground Fennel Ground Fennel
- Salt and Pepper To taste, you might have to adjust depending on how salty your stock is
Instructions
- Pour boiling water over the cashews and let them soak for 1 hour. After an hour, drain and rinse the cashews. Place the soaked cashews and water into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside, as you will add this to your soup later.
- Preheat your Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the olive oil and plant-based sausage. Pan-sear the sausage for a few minutes until golden brown. Transfer the sausage to a bowl and set aside to add back to the soup later.
- Next, add the onion to the sausage drippings in your Dutch oven and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Stir in the garlic, cook until you can smell its fragrance, about 30 to 60 seconds; you do not want your garlic to burn. Then pour in a splash of your vegetable stock. Scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan until the vegetable stock has evaporated.
- Now, add the sliced potatoes, thyme, bay leaf, smoked paprika, and red chili flakes into your pot and stir around to distribute the spices. Next, pour in the vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer, add the nutritional yeast and a pinch of sea salt. Cook for about 5 to 10 minutes until the potatoes have softened but still hold their shape. Check after 5 minutes and keep a close eye on them.
- Add in your chopped kale. Give everything a good stir, then mix in the cashew cream. Simmer another minute or so until the kale has wilted and the soup is creamy.
- Add the cooked plant-based sausage back into the soup, adjust seasonings, if needed, add extra sea salt here, and serve hot with freshly cracked black pepper on top.
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days.