Iron Chef America (and really really good Zupa)

For a youth group activity, our church held our very own "Iron Chef America".  The youth were divided into teams of 5 or 6, were given a secret ingredient that had to be used in their dish, and were assigned to go to various designated houses in the neighborhood to cook a dish in under an hour.  We signed up to help, so we had a team come to our house.  The secret ingredient was potatoes and extra points were given if the dish was Italian.  Potatoes and Italian?  We couldn't think of anything good right away, but after looking in some of my cookbooks, we settled on Zupa.  It is a delicious creamy soup with Italian sausage and potatoes in it.  We tweeked the recipe a little bit to mimick the dish from one of my favorite restaurants, Gabor Brothers.  Their Zupa is wonderful, and I think ours just might match it in flavor.  We had to use what we had on hand, but I would have added spinach for added color and flavor if I would have had any.

I feel bad that I didn't take any pictures of the kids cooking their hearts out in my kitchen.  We were all having so much fun and trying to beat the clock (just like the TV show), that I failed to snap any photos of the kids, just the final result.

Zupa Tuscana Soup

1 lb. spicy Italian sausage, crumbled

1/2 lb. smoked bacon, chopped

1 quart water

2 (14.5 oz.) cans chicken broth

2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed clean and cubed

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you cook.  Rinse and set aside (if you don't rinse, the soup will have a red tint to it).  In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown bacon, drain adn set aside.  Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in soup pot.  Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.  Add sausage and bacon.  Simmer for 10 minutes and then add cream and cheese.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Heat through.

Results: The youth took most of the soup with them for judging, but left me a little and it was AMAZING!!  This soup is definitely going in my recipe book...I'm almost a little sad that soup season is nearly over (I said almost!).  As a side note, our youth team took third place with this dish (I think there were at least a dozen teams who participated).  Not bad for spur of the moment, huh?  I'm very proud of my Iron Chefs!!