A Tuscan Soup & Baguette Recipe

“ How wonderful it is that nobody need to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

-Anne Frank

Hello, sweet friends…

I hope you are hungry today because this post is all about food…

Keto Tuscan Soup

I had to laugh when I received the recipe for this soup. It was shared by a new friend whom I met in an online bible study. There were no measurements just the ingredients. That being said I sort of experimented with how much to measure. Also…my friend is Italian and I’ve never met an Italian that isn’t a natural chef. btw.. this soup was fabulous!

INGREDIENTS

Hot sausage or just regular ground pork (I used 4 hot Italian veggie sausage links)

onion (I didn’t use)
garlic (3 diced cloves)
chicken broth (I used about 8 cups)

frozen chopped spinach (or fresh chopped spinach) I used 1 box frozen

sun-dried tomatoes (I used 1 jar)

cut up cauliflower (I used about a cup)

heavy whipping cream

Parmesan cheese (I used half of package)

Italian herb seasoning (to taste

Brown sausage in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Add the onions & garlic as the meat is almost cooked. While the sausage is browning steam the spinach. Cook for a minute or two before stirring the broth into the mixture. Add the tomatoes, spinach, more broth (if necessary) and Italian seasoning. Add cut cauliflower for more texture. Continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Then add the heavy whipping cream and Parmesan cheese… measure as needed (I used almost the entire creamer) Stir until melted… simmer until ready to eat, or turn off the heat and cover until ready to eat.

Homemade Baguettes

I’ve become quite efficient at bread making so I decided to give baguettes a try. They are actually a bit trickier…not really sure why. However, they were fun to make and I’m sure I’ll be baking them up again soon!

Ingredients

6 cup flour  (depending on a brand, you may need to add more flour)

3 cups  lukewarm water

2 tsp yeast

2 tsp salt

The night before, combine all ingredients together. First mix the dry ingredients together and then add water. Mix the ingredients until the dough comes together. Cover it with a plastic wrap and let it sit for 12-20 hours on the countertop.

The following day, the dough should be wet, sticky and bubbly. Generously flour your hands and the baking sheet.

Take the dough (if it sticks, apply more flour to your hands) and form a baguette shape. Place it on a baking sheet and sprinkle a generous amount of flour on it. Cover it with a towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 °F. You will need to have 2 shelves in an oven. Fill a deep cooking sheet with 2 cups of hot boiled water, and place it on a lower level, inside your oven. This will make the bread crispy on the outside. Place the bread on the top rack. Remove water from the oven after 10 minutes. Keep on baking the bread for another 30 minutes or until golden crispy brown.

Naturally I had to add a bit of decorating…