Zuppa Toscana and French Bread

I was in the mood for soup last week, so I was browsing through several cooking blogs/websites I usually look at, and I found a recipe for "Zuppa Toscana", like they have at Olive Garden. Yum! I've had it there before, and I remember really liking it. It's been awhile, but as far I remember, this tasted just like it. I decided if I was going to make soup, I had to make bread to go with it :), so I made Jeremy's mom's french bread. That along with some salad made it a great dinner! By the way, I halved both recipes, since there's only two of us, and it made enough for both of us to have it for lunch the next day. So if you have more than 2, you should probably do the whole recipe. Hope you enjoy it!

Zuppa Toscana
from www.stephanieskitchen.com

1 lb Italian Sausage
2 large russet potatoes, sliced in half and than sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2- 32 ounce cartons chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 bunches kale, chopped (I did a little less than this)
freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, if desired

Brown sausage in large soup pot. Remove sausage and set aside. To the pot add chicken broth, potatoes, onion, and garlic and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add cream and sausage to the pot and warm through. Add kale a couple minutes before serving. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Debbie's French Bread

2 1/4 c. hot water
1 T. yeast
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 c. flour (or more, if needed)

Sprinkle the yeast and 1 T. sugar over 1/4 c. hot water. Set aside so that the yeast can rise (just a few minutes).

Meanwhile, stir the other T. sugar and salt into 2 c. hot water. Add the flour one cup at a time and mix in the yeast mixture when it bubbles. Knead for about 5 minutes. Roll dough in a little bit of oil and leave in a covered bowl 1-3 hours until it doubles in size. Divide the dough and put into bread pan, or make two long loaves and put on a cookie sheet (I use the cookie sheet). Let rise a second time until double in size. Cut a few slashes on the top. Bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes in an oven that has a pan of hot water on the lower rack (keeps it moist). Remove from oven and brush with butter.